Nuclear Medicine

What is Nuclear Medicine?

• 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.

Why is it called Nuclear Medicine?

• It refers to medicine (a pharmaceutical) that is attached to a small quantity of

radioactive material (a radioisotope). This combination is called radiopharmaceutical. There

are many different radiopharmaceuticals available to study different parts of the body.

Which radiopharmaceutical is used will depend upon the condition to be diagnosed or treated.

Services Offered

A. Radioimmunoassay (RIA)/Immunoradiometricassay (IRMA)

THYROID

1. TSH IRMA

2. FTA RIA

3. Thyroglobulin

4. Anti-thyroglobulin

5. Anti-TPO (Perioxidase)

OTHERS

1. 17 OH-P

B. Radioactive Iodine Therapy

1. Hyperthyroidism (Grave’s Disease, solitary autonomous nodule)

2. Ablation of thyroid remnants after thyroidectomy

3. Treatment of metastatic Thyroid Carcinoma

C. Imaging

A gamma camera converts gamma rays into electronic pulses which make up an image.

These pulses are collected over a period of time and build up a picture of the organ. These

pictures are stored on disc and can be viewed and processed at a later date.

1. Detection of G.I Bleeding

2. Hepatobiliary Imaging

3. I-131 Whole Body Scintigraphy

4. Kidney Investigation

5. Liver and Spleen Scintigraphy

6. Lung Perfusion Scintigraphy

7. Lung Ventilation Scintigraphy

8. Meckel’s Diverticulum Scintigraphy

9. Myocardial Perfusion Imaging- Tc99m Sestamibi, Thelium201

10. Parathyroid Imaging

11. RBC Tagging

12. Thyroid Scan- Tc99m, I-131

13. TI-201 Whole body Scintigraphy (for Thyroid Malignancy)

14. Whole Body Bone Scan- Tc99m MDP

D. Urea Breath Test

UBT is currently considered to be the gold standard for non-invasive diagnosis of

H.pylori. It is highly reliable- 95% sensitivity and 100% specificity, for pre- and post-

treatment follow up of infection.

Clinical Applications:

Cardiology

Endocrinology

Gastroenterology

Infection

Nephrology

Oncology

Pulmonary

Nuclear Medicine

Clinics & Centers