Dr. Chemistry: "Helium, Curium or else Barium" Quiz

Answer: Heliox

Heliox is a combination of helium and oxygen, and is used to treat respiratory ailments, like asthma, bronchiolitis, obstructions of the upper airway passages, and COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). Heliox is less dense than air, which helps reduce the resistance to its airflow, and improves the supply of oxygen to patients having respiratory trouble.

Heliox is not the same as helium oxide, as that gas is not used to treat respiratory problems. It is a theoretical compound that hasn't been widely studied or employed in practical applications.

Answer: Radiopharmaceuticals

Curium has important uses in medicine, primarily in the nuclear medicine field, where it is particularly used in the production of radiopharmaceuticals. These are radioactive compounds used in the diagnosis and treatment of medical issues involving cancer and diseases of vital organs such as the brain, heart, and bones.

These radioactive compounds are also employed in imaging techniques and targeted therapies which focus on specific molecular areas associated with cancer cells.

Answer: Barium sulphate

In the medical field, barium sulfate is used primarily for radiocontrast X-ray imaging, improving the visibility of the gastrointestinal tract during procedures in which imaging is very helpful. It makes for a more accurate diagnosis of various conditions. Barium sulfate does not easily dissolve in water and is generally safe for medical use but has side effects if used excessively.

Barium chloride is highly toxic and can cause gastrointestinal problems and cardiovascular issues if ingested or inhaled. Barium nitrate, like barium chloride, is soluble in water, and causes dangerous toxicity risks. Barium hydroxide is corrosive and dangerous whether ingested or even absorbed through the skin.

Answer: Higher viscosity than air

Helium has lower viscosity than air, not higher, and it is that lower viscosity that helps improve gas flow in asthmatic patients with airway resistance, and patients suffering from bronchiolitis. That heliox mixture of helium and oxygen eases the work patients have with breathing in patients with respiratory distress caused by increased airway resistance. When the medication albuterol is aerosolized with heliox, that medication is better delivered through the patient's airways, than if it was combined with just oxygen.

Helium helps eliminate excess CO2 in the bloodstream of patients with hypercapnia, and heliox has also been shown to reduce inflammation.

Answer: Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography

PET stands for Positron Emission Tomography and SPECT stands for Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography.

Both of these imaging methods use isotopes emitting radiation that act as tracers. These help doctors visualize and diagnose a wide variety of conditions, such as cancers and neurological disorders.

Answer: False

Depending on the specific test being conducted, barium sulfate may be administered orally or rectally. Widely used in imaging procedures, its administration includes barium swallows, barium meals, and barium enemas. The procedures aid in visualizing the gastrointestinal tract during X-ray examinations by coating the internal surfaces of the esophagus, stomach, and intestines and thus rendering clearer images.

Answer: Cooling for MRI machines

Liquid helium is used for cooling the superconducting magnets used in MRI machines. Helium has a very low boiling point of -268.93°C (-452°F), so it is able to keep the low temperatures that are needed for those magnets to function properly, and yield high-quality imaging.

Helium cannot be used to make dry ice because, being an inert gas, it doesn't form compounds easily, nor can it be solidified into a dry ice-like substance at normal pressures.

While, technically, helium could power a pneumatic or hydraulic system it is not used to do so, since other gases are much more effective due to helium's tendency to leak out of conventional seals. Helium is also much more costly compared to nitrogen or compressed air.

There are no helium batteries used to power iron lungs.

Answer: Isotopes

Curium-242 and curium-244 isotopes are used in radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic imaging and also sometimes as power sources for medical devices. Curium isotopes are also used to treat prostate cancer, as the isotopes target the areas of bone lesions nearby, that are highly conducive environments for cancer cells to grow. In addition to prostate cancer, curium isotopes treat solid tumors such as lung and colorectal cancers.

Answer: BaSO4

Barium sulfate is generally considered safe, since it is not absorbed into the bloodstream and travels through the digestive system without metabolizing. It is a compound consisting of the element barium (Ba) which is an alkaline earth metal, and sulfur ion, which is a non-metal, that is bonded to four oxygen atoms. It is represented by the formula BaSO4, showing the sulfate's tetrahedral structure alongside the barium ion.

Answer: Curium

Curium was first synthesized in 1944 by Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A. James, and Albert Ghiorso at the University of Chicago, while researching transuranium elements, those heavier elements beyond uranium on the periodic table as a way of understanding atomic structure. They named the new element "curium" (atomic number 96) after Marie and Pierre Curie, whose groundbreaking work on radioactivity had a tremendous impact on the medical field.

It formed the groundwork for many diagnostic and therapeutic applications, including radiation therapy for cancer treatment, advancements in X-ray technology advancement, sterilization techniques, nuclear medicine and other uses.