Radionuclide production for the biosciences

Most of the radiotracers have relatively short half-lives (less than a few hours to at most a few days). There are definite advantages in using short-lived radionuclides, for example there is a low radiation dose associated with each study, serial studies are possible (sometimes on the same day for tracers such as /sup 11/C) and the radioactive waste disposal problems are minimized if not eliminated. The disadvantages include the need for an accelerator nearby or within easy shipping distance for the longer lived species and rapid chemical procedures are required, especially for the more complex compound formation.