A Nuclear Medicine (NM) scan is a diagnostic exam that provides important information about organ function. In Nuclear Medicine, Imaging Radiopharmaceuticals (radioactive medicine or tracers) are introduced by Intravenous Injection. Imaging Systems then capture and form images from the radiation emitted by the Radiopharmaceuticals in the body.
NM scans determine the presence of the disease, based on biological and anatomical changes, i.e. how an organ functions, and what it looks like. Nuclear Medicine scans allow us to evaluate the function of a number of organs including the thyroid gland, lungs, heart, stomach, kidneys, and gallbladder.
Oncologic Applications:Tumour Localisation, Tumour Staging, Identify Metastatic Sites, Evaluating Response to Therapy and Radiotherapy Planning especially through the use of PET-CT systems.
Renal Applications:Detect Urinary Tract Obstruction, Diagnose Renovascular Hypertension, Measure Differential Renal Function, Detect Renal Transplant Rejection, Detect Pyelonephritis and Detect Renal Scars.
Cardiac Applications:Coronary Artery Disease, Measure Effectiveness of Bypass Surgery, Measure Effectiveness of Therapy for Heart Failure, Select Patients for Bypass or Angioplasty, Identify Surgical Patients at High Risk for Heart Attacks, Measure Chemotherapy Cardiac Toxicity Evaluate.
Orthopaedic Applications:Identify Occult Bone Trauma (Sports Injuries), Diagnose Osteomyelitis, Evaluate Arthritic Changes and Extent, Measure the Extent of Certain Tumours and Identify Bone Infarcts in Sickle Cell Disease.
Thyroid Application:Gives important information regarding the functioning of thyroid lobes and their type of enlargement in the Neck, Infection in Thyroid Lobes, Cyst in Thyroid Lobes, Diagnose and Treat Hyperthyroidism (Graves' Disease).
Hepatobiliary Applications:Detect Acute Cholecystitis Chronic Biliary Tract Dysfunction, etc.
Other Applications:Detect Acute Gastrointestinal Bleeding, Detect Testicular Torsion, Detect Occult Infections, Evaluation of Various Neurological Conditions like Dementia, etc.
PET-CT Applications:Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning provides unique insights into the human body that enable physicians to personalise patient care. As a tool for evaluating and managing the care of patients, molecular imaging studies help physicians:
