# Where to give my character a shot.



## SarahStrange (Aug 14, 2013)

My main character is injected with a radioactive isotope to track her movement. (this is far in the future so the tech has evolved to that point). She is drugged and discovers the needle mark upon waking. At first I had it on her arm, then her neck. And now I'm just not sure where to put it. This is mostly because I was wondering if my placement was medically incorrect. 

Does anyone know of any medical reason for choosing a specific spot to inject someone with something? Will it just spread through the body no matter where the site is?

Does it matter? Or am I making this too complicated? 

I really know nothing about this area, so help would be appreciated.


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## Lewdog (Aug 14, 2013)

From what I just read, it really doesn't matter because it is going to end moving all through the body.  I would just go with the arm, because that seems like a standard place to do it, unless you want to put it in someone's rear end.  

Can I ask what the purpose is?  Radioisotopes will actually leave the body after just a few days so...tracking by the radioisotope is only short term.  Why not just create your own thing, or just use some kind of electronic device?


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## Outiboros (Aug 14, 2013)

What Lewdog said - if technology is far enough advanced to track trace amounts of radioactivity, it's way easier to implant a transmitting microchip. Less dangerous to the subject, lasts longer and possibly indefinitely, larger broadcast range... And with a sufficiently small microchip it's entirely unnoticeable to the subject. It doesn't have to be sub-dermal: at this level it could just as easily be placed in the bloodstream and dig itself into the side of some blood vessel or other.

I understand that this will be problematic for your story. If you want it to be noticeable, you could:
- make sure the microchip is sufficiently big and feels like a 'bump'
- make the microchip injector leave a circular pattern of rashes from where the chip was implanted
- make some sort of scanner pick up the microchip transmission
- graft versus host reaction?


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## Nickleby (Aug 14, 2013)

Why not a RAID chip? The technology is out there. Dogs and cats get them for identification purposes. It can go under the skin almost anywhere, as long as it doesn't cause discomfort--unless that's the point.

Just to add a little nightmare fuel, how about giving the chip some claws? As the deadline approaches (there has to be a deadline), the chip starts burrowing towards the heart or the brain. See the movies _Escape from New York_ and _Logan's Run_ for inspiration.


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## SarahStrange (Aug 14, 2013)

> Can I ask what the purpose is?... Why not just create your own thing, or just use some kind of electronic device?



The technology and the world is very advanced. However, the people who are tracking her are not 'advanced'. They're sort of like nomads. They live on the outskirts of civilization, so they only have access to simple tech. I think what I'll do is use the isotope idea in the first book. In the second book, I'll have her figure out that they lied and used a chip, so they can find her anytime, anywhere. *gasp!!* 

I think the shot will go just above her hip. It's more intimate and creepy that way  

Thanks for your help guys! I appreciate it


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## bezidentita (Aug 14, 2013)

That's a good question. Probably doesn't matter, depending on the story you're writing. Unless there's some glaring error (like putting the Statue of Liberty in Detroit, although even that can work, like in a story about parallel universes), no one's going to call you on it, as long as your entire story is written with that style in mind.


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## TheFuhrer02 (Aug 15, 2013)

SarahStrange said:


> Does anyone know of any medical reason for choosing a specific spot to inject someone with something? Will it just spread through the body no matter where the site is?



It depends on what you're injecting. If you're injecting a drug that you want to directly place in the bloodstream ASAP, then you want it injected intravenously. This is usually done using the back of the hand, where the median cubital vein (I know, I'm getting technical here, but I did just in case you want to use the terms or something) is. But it can be done virtually anywhere a vein is within reach of the needle. Other usual sites include the crease between the arm and the forearm, the neck and the inside of the foot near the ankle.

As for radioactive isotopes... I've heard of something of this sort used in cancer therapy, but I'm sure they're radiation, no use of invasive procedures, unless they also have these things in chemotherapy. I'm not there yet in my medical education, sorry. I can compare them to Iodine dyes at the moment, for Iodine has a radioactive form. So Iodine is inserted into the bloodstream so when you do a scan of someone, the iodine is detected and you will know if the blood vessel if still okay or not - if the iodine flows according to anatomy, then its fine. If it stops somewhere, then, ta da, you found the block.

Having said that, I guess if you're using a radioactive solution thing as the medium of the tracking device or nanotech device, then probably at the back of the hand or the crease in the arm would be the best bet for you to stay on the technically accurate side.

Hope I have helped!


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## Kehawin (Aug 15, 2013)

To add to what TheFuhrer said, it depends.  Is this radioactivity a liquid?  If so, putting it into a muscle would require a very large amount of it to go throughout her whole body.  On the other hand, if a trace amount is all they need to track her, then putting it into a muscle would work - especially a central muscle, like the deltoid or the gluteus maximus (if they put it in her forearm, for example, and it was just a small amount, she could conceivably cut that muscle area out and though disfigured get around the tracer).  As for IV (intravenously) we see it in the movies all the time, where someone sticks a needle in someone's neck and the person is out for the count in seconds.  The problem with that is (and trust me, I yell at the screen all the time) the large vessels in the neck go one of two places:  either to the brain or to the heart (arteries are deeper and go to the brain, jugular veins are closer to the surface and go to the heart within seconds).  So if whatever is being injected has any toxicity, well, there'd be more than just loss of consciousness involved.  However, if a trace amount is needed, toxic or not, there is a vein on your wrist just above the thumb called "the intern's vein" because it is easy to stick, fairly large, and distal (far away) from the heart and so is good for most short term IVs.

 I am willing to help you work this out (have been a practical nurse for 21 years, just about to take my boards for RN) if you want to PM me (or post here, either way) details about what exactly you have envisioned for the tracer.

ETA:  to answer your last question, yes, there are many considerations for how and why to inject things in certain places.  Those include toxicity mostly,. but desired disbursement is also an issue.  Injecting into a small muscle is fine for a fairly non-toxic small dose (like immunizations), injecting into a large muscle is good for something that is large amount that you want to extend it's release into the body, and IV, while the most direct route to systemic effect, is absolutely not good for substances toxic to blood or vessel tissue or the heart - most substances that are toxic to tissue of the vessels is put in via something called a central line (or PICC - peripherally inserted central catheter) which is a very long tube that goes straight into the heart (things like chemo are often done this way).


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