What is
Nuclear Medicine?
An imaging technique used to show
the function of a body organ. It shows anatomy and has diagnostic
capabilities as well as valuable therapeutic applications. Radioactive
substances (radio-isotopes), that are attracted to specific
organs, bones or tissues are injected into the patient to trace
disease processes and diagnose or treat disease. The concentrated
radioactivity may be detected by a gamma camera as typical "hot
spots". The radiation to the patient is often equivocal
or less than a routine X-ray examination. Most of the radioactivity
is eliminated from the body within a few hours after the examination.
What will
the exam be like?
A Nuclear Medicine trained Technologist
will administer a radiopharmaceutical either orally or into
a vein. Depending on which type of scan is being performed,
the imaging will be done either immediately or a few hours or
even two days after the injection. Imaging time varies, generally
ranging from 20 to 45 minutes.
The radiopharmaceutical that is
used is determined by what part of the body is under study since
some compounds collect in specific organs better than others.
Depending on the type of scan, it may take several seconds to
several days for the substance to travel through the body and
accumulate in the organ of interest. You may be asked to drink
fluids before the scan.You must remain as still as possible
during imaging. Sometimes sequential images are obtained to
show how an organ functions over time.
In general,
the radiopharmaceutical loses its radioactivity, usually over
24 hours and leaves the body quickly as it is excreted in the
urine or stool.
At Saint
Luke’s Outpatient Imaging our Nuclear Medicine Department
Performs a full range of quality studies. We currently perform
the following routine studies:
- Bone scans
- Breast
- Lung
- Renal
- Thyroid uptake and scans
- Gastric Emptying
- Hepatobiliary
- Octreoscan
We also provide
the following Therapies:
- Thyroid therapy
- Strontium
- SM 153 Samarium
Additional imaging consists
of:
- Lacrimal Scintigraphy
- Neutrospec (white blood cell imaging)
- Muga heart scan
Nuclear
Medicine Exam Prep
