boneseeker

English

Alternative forms

Noun

boneseeker (plural boneseekers)

  1. (physiology) Any element, especially a radioisotope, that has a tendency to accumulate in bones.
    • 1977, Karl F. Hübner, “The Use of Rare-Earth Radionuclides and Other Bone-Seekers in the Evaluation of Bone Lesions in Patients with Multiple Myeloma or Solitary Plasmacytoma”, in Radiology, volume 125, number 1:
      In general, localization of the rare-earth “bone-seekers” was poor except for 157Dy, which compared well with 99mTc-PP and 99mTc-DP; 157Dy was also helpful in studies of the abdomen and pelvis because of its failure to concentrate in the gastrointestinal tract.
    • 1994, T. Wardaszko, D. Grzybowska, “Investigation of levels of 226Ra and 222Rn in fresh waters”, in Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection Bi-Annual Report, page 72:
      This fact has, however only very little meaning from the point of view of radiological protection, because 226Ra being a long-lived, alpha-active boneseeker, belongs to highly radiotoxic substances, whereas 222Rn, a short-lived noble gas, does not.

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