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Nuclear Medicine |
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Nuclear Medicine is a
discipline in medical radiation technology. It involves the use of
radioactive substances and radiation technology to help diagnose,
and, in some cases, treat medical problems.
Nuclear Medicine procedures are divided
into two parts, laboratory work and imaging (scanning). The lab
prepares radioactive solutions (radiopharmaceuticals) for
intravenous injection. The radioactive solutions allow the
specialized imaging equipment (gamma cameras) to acquire images.
Computer programs process the information obtained from the images,
in order to determine the location, size, and function of body
tissues and organs. The type of radioactive tracer solution used is
different for different parts of the body. |
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Patients rarely suffer side
effects from the intravenous injection used in Nuclear Medicine
procedures and feel nothing from the radioactive solution, or the
scanning procedure. Patients receive less radiation than from many
x-ray procedures. However, since some radiation is involved, the
Department will not perform tests on pregnant women. If there is a
possibility of pregnancy, a pregnancy test is required prior to
performing the Nuclear Medicine procedure. Breast-feeding mothers
are required to stop two to four days prior to having a Nuclear
Medicine procedure.
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During nuclear medicine examination, radioactively
labeled material, a radiopharmaceutical, is injected, for example,
into the veins of a patient. The choice of the material depends on
the type of examination one wants to perform. For examining thyroid
disorders, an iodine compound that is taken up by the thyroid can be
used, whereas in vessel examinations, erythrocytes labeled with
radioactive technetium are applied. The radiopharmaceutical (the
carrier of the isotope) is chosen in such a way that this compound
is preferably absorbed by the organ we are interested in. Its
radiation is then used to create an image. The radiation emitted by
the isotopes is partly absorbed inside the patient, and the
remainder is detected by a so-called gamma camera. The gamma camera
is usually connected to a computer system, with which it is then
possible to construct an image.
Radioactive isotopes disintegrate into stable
isotopes. For medical examinations it is better to use an isotopes
with a relatively short half-life, which is the time in which the
activity is reduced by 50%, to limit to a minimum the amount of
radiation to which a patient is exposed. The radioactive isotopes
with short half-lives are produced in so-called generators, that
contain radioactive material with a relatively long half-life that
decays into the requested isotope. Over a number of days, the
generator is used to produce the radioactive material needed for
imaging. A technetium generator, for example, contains the
radioactive isotope molybdenum-99, which has a half-life of 67
hours. This isotope disintegrates to Technetium-99m, which has a
half-life of 6 hours. The latter isotope is used for imaging
purposes.
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Nuclear medicine specialists use safe, painless, and
cost-effective techniques to image the body and treat disease.
Nuclear medicine imaging is unique, because it provides
doctors with information about both structure and function. It
is a way to gather medical information that would otherwise be
unavailable, require surgery, or necessitate more expensive
diagnostic tests. |
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Nuclear medicine imaging procedures often identify
abnormalities very early in the progress of a disease—long
before many medical problems are apparent with other
diagnostic tests. Nuclear medicine uses
very small amounts of radioactive materials
(radiopharmaceuticals) to diagnose and treat disease. In
imaging, the radiopharmaceuticals are detected by special
types of cameras that work with computers to provide very
precise pictures about the area of the body being imaged. In
treatment, the radiopharmaceuticals go directly to the organ
being treated. The amount of radiation in a typical nuclear
imaging procedure is comparable with that received during a
diagnostic x-ray, and the amount received in a typical
treatment procedure is kept within safe limits.
Today, nuclear medicine
offers procedures that are essential in many medical
specialties, from pediatrics to cardiology to psychiatry. New
and innovative nuclear medicine treatments that target and
pinpoint molecular levels within the body are revolutionizing
our understanding of and approach to a range of diseases and
conditions.
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Copyright © 2005,
www.cnmubsl.org All rights reserved
Centre For Nuclear Medicine and Ultrasound (CNMU),
Barisal, Post Box-43, Barisal-
8200
Website
developed by: Mizanur Rahman, AE, BAEC. e-mail:
mizan_ot@yahoo.com |
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