Positron-Electron Tomography (PET Scan) | Medical Physics | A Levels | New Syllabus

This video is about positron electron tomography, also known as PET scans. It is a new part of the A Level Physics syllabus (2022) and part of the medical physics chapter.
This video discusses:
- Radioactive tracers
- Positron electron annihilation
- Energy and frequency of the gamma rays emitted in the annihilation
- Detection of gamma rays
- Cyclotrons and why PET scans are expensive
- How a PET scan can detect cancer in its early stages
Thank you for watching!

[@Abdullah-mi1ql]

Thanks pls keep on making Alevel stuff this was great help!

[@physeeks]

I will! Thank you:)

[@secretmessage7952]

Hey I was wondering if you have covered all the 6 objectives of PET Scan in this video??

[@thelabofmiracle7711]

tysm

[@SB36963]

Thank you for the video, I'm going for one in a week and had no idea it involved radioactive materials like it does. I'm wondering if it will put me at risk of cancers or anything else from the materials they'll be using? And I'd greatly appreciate it if you could get back to me on this, I'm pretty nervous tbh.. And the way it annihilates into "light" sounds almost biblical in my opinion.

[@physeeks]

Hey! First of all, best of luck and I hope it all goes well.
It's true that PET scanning could risk your risk of cancers (because of the gamma rays) but so will X rays and CAT scans. There aren't many medical procedures where you don't get exposure to EM radiation. And I am pretty sure the doctors and the medical physicists prepare the radioactive material in very small doses, so that your chances of getting cancer will be extremely low, close to zero. Don't be nervous!
Completely agree with you on the annihilation part. When I first studied it, I couldn't believe what I was reading. It took me a while to get used to the idea that matter can just disappear like that. But I would say that that's the fun of physics! :D

[@shamvilraza6474]

great video? just wondering if you're planning to upload the videos for the whole A2 syllabus? I understood a lot more from a single video from you than I did from 3 classes in college 😔

[@shamvilraza6474]

great video! *

[@robotales12]

Yes nerd

[@Zenyuiii]

🍑

[@physeeks]

Hey thank you so much! Yes, i'll continue posting for A2 physics. I wish you the best in your studies:)

[@prakashmishra9816]

Saviour