I just got back from field trip to Singapore General Hospital. After one hectic week, finally i went out for something different.
Well, this trip reminds me of our small trip to L’Hôpital de Compiègne when we were shown MRI and USG. We tried to be the patient that time.
Ok, this time is slightly different, coz we were looking at those radioactives. Those scanner with gamma ray. So called more advanced technology that we can see our organ, bones and find what can be done after.
We first started with those chemical labs where the "radioactive tracers" is made and prepared. These tracers will be introduced to our body by oral or injection and will be shown in the screen in form of image. There are a lot of methods and types, depending on which part you want to be projected. Ok, i am not too sure about it as im not sitting in the class, so do tell me if i understand the concept wrongly =p.
There was a huge room, he said, which we can’t go inside. With a very thick door (3feets) and wall to maintain the heat. It’s for bombarding those positron, something to do with cyclotron.
Then we saw the real patients in the process of scanning. There were two elders, diagnosed for the bone and parathyroid. There were a lot of new info that i didn’t understand at all about the dots in the image and son on so forth.
Back to the preparation lab, one new thing I can easily absorb, coz it’s unique to me.. They cooked the radioactive tracers into french toast! It does smell good. They said, having all the tracers well-spread in the eggs that cover the toast, we will get better image result. Yummy yummy, it’s no longer those bitter medicine like.
It seems to be fun working there… Be exposed to radioactive? Why not… They even said, there’s a research found that low level of exposure to radioactive will make us have lower risk of cancer compared to those never been exposed to radioactive. It’s like self-immune system that will defend our body when we are started to be infected by virus. But when it’s too much virus, then you fall sick. SO, here, it’s the same concept.
Low or high level, we can check how much we are exposed to it. We can check by ourselves, then if we exceed the safetly level, which won’t happen in most of the cases, we will have 3 months paid-leave. It sounds even better…. Another thing they mentioned, it’s not always the case that those dealing with radioactive material will have high level of radiation. One founds that a pilot who flew over atlantic ocean even has higher exposure compared to the lab-workers. It might because of the depleting ozon.
JK proposed then why don’t we purposely expose ourselves to the optimum level of radiation, then we might not get cancer..
