Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear medicine is a specialized area of radiology that uses very small amounts of radioactive materials, or radiotracers, to examine organ function and structure. This branch of radiology is often used to help diagnose and treat abnormalities very early in the progression of a disease. By measuring the behavior of the radionuclide in the body during a nuclear scan, the doctor can assess and diagnose various conditions, such as tumors, abscesses, hematomas, organ enlargement or cysts.

Among many other things, nuclear medicine may be used to visualize heart blood flow, function and the extent of any disease or defect, scan lungs for respiratory and blood flow problems, evaluate bones for fractures, tumors, infection and arthritis, just to name a few. For cancer, nuclear medicine may be used to determine the presence or spread of cancer in various parts of the body; plan treatment; evaluate response to therapy; detect recurrence; and detect rare tumors of the pancreas and adrenal glands.