NUCLEAR MEDICINE TEST
Nuclear medicine tests are used to provide detailed pictures of certain activities happening inside the body. They are referred to as “Nuclear Medicine” since all of the testing is done with a very small amount of radioactive substance. Often times the radioactive substance is injected via an intravenous (IV) line. The radioactive substance, called radiotracers, is used as it sends signals (gamma rays), that the nuclear medicine camera picks up to generate the images. Overall, the total radiation dose received from this type of testing is similar to a standard X-ray or CT scan.
NUCLEAR MEDICINE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
How is this different from other testing?
Other tests, such as MRI or CT scans can show pictures of how the inside of the body looks at a given time. Nuclear medicine differs in that it looks at the changes happening inside the body, and how certain functions are working. This helps your doctor determine problem happening inside you, and choose a treatment for this problem. You may return for this type of testing again to see how well the chosen treatment is working.
What kind of testing is done this way?
• Visualizing the blood flow in the heart and how it’s functioning (myocardial perfusion scan)