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General | |
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Symbol | 13N |
Names | nitrogen-13, 13N, N-13 |
Protons (Z) | 7 |
Neutrons (N) | 6 |
Nuclide data | |
Half-life (t1/2) | 9.97 min |
Parent isotopes | 13O (β+) |
Decay modes | |
Decay mode | Decay energy (MeV) |
β+ | 1.2003 |
Isotopes of nitrogen Complete table of nuclides |
Nitrogen-13 (13N) is a radioisotope of nitrogen used in positron emission tomography (PET). It has a half-life of a little under ten minutes, so it must be made at the PET site. A cyclotron may be used for this purpose.
Nitrogen-13 is used to tag ammonia molecules for PET myocardial perfusion imaging.