Technetium

Technetium (Tc) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-25 · the last 10 years

Technetium’s research intensity has fallen to about 32% of its all-time peak, a steady decline from a high point set in 1999, well before this window.

Research intensity ran from about 49% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 32% in 2026 — a steady decline, and the all-time peak (1999) lies before this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements fell. Among the 118 elements, technetium has a mid-sized research literature.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 2,110 in 2016 to about 2,934 in 2025 (1.39x). That is slower than the literature as a whole grew over the same years, so the element lost ground in the wider body of research even as its own count rose.

The largest share of technetium’s recent research belongs to Sentinel Lymph Node Mapping and Parathyroid Localization, accounting for about 45% of the element’s work in the current period. This community focuses on using technetium-99m for sentinel lymph node biopsy and detecting parathyroid adenomas, with distinctive work on single-photon emission and node biopsy techniques. Technetium is a minor presence in this much larger community, appearing in about 8% of its papers. Its share has remained steady over the last decade. A key paper here is a 2022 literature review on radiopharmaceuticals for PET and SPECT imaging, cited over 330 times.

The fastest-growing area is Technetium Pyrophosphate Imaging for Transthyretin Amyloidosis, which has risen from about 9% to about 17% of technetium’s research. These papers utilize technetium-99m pyrophosphate scintigraphy to diagnose transthyretin cardiac amyloidosis, distinguishing it from other cardiomyopathies. While technetium is a minor presence in this broader cardiac imaging field (about 3% of its papers), it is central to this specific diagnostic pathway. The decade’s most cited paper in this area is a 2016 study on nonbiopsy diagnosis of cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis, cited over 2,000 times. More recently, a 2025 paper on AI-based screening tools for cardiac amyloidosis has been cited about 41 times.

The third major community is Technetium Immobilization and Removal from Nuclear Waste, holding about 11% of the element’s research. This work focuses on capturing and stabilizing technetium, often as pertechnetate, using materials like activated carbon and organic frameworks to manage radioactive waste. Technetium is a minor presence in this nuclear fuel cycle community (about 2% of its papers). Its share has remained steady. Notable recent work includes a 2024 paper on cationic polymeric nanotraps for pertechnetate removal, cited about 57 times, and a 2024 review on separating technetium-99 from spent nuclear fuel, cited about 53 times.

Overall, the composition of technetium research has shifted slightly toward cardiac imaging, while the shares for lymph node mapping and nuclear waste management have remained stable. The remainder of the literature, comprising about 27% of recent work, includes smaller, specialized areas.

For a deeper look at technetium’s current standing, see its Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.