Nuclear medicine scans are performed with a small amount of radioactive isotope injected into a vein in your arm. The isotope is specially "tagged" and will travel to the structure being studied. You will be placed under a gamma camera, which is an instrument like a Geiger counter. The gamma camera detects the small amount of radiation being emitted from the organ, changes it to light, and prints a picture of the distribution of the radioactive isotope. The scans are painless and usually no side effects are seen. The radiation exposure is minimal with a nuclear medicine scan. It is used to detect disease processes and abnormalities of organ blood flow or skeletal structures not always seen on other diagnostic tests. Studies are performed by nuclear medicine technologists who are licensed and highly skilled and supervised by a board-certified radiologist.

Nuclear Cardiology

A clinical discipline that uses radionuclides (an isotope of artificial or natural origin that exhibits radioactivity), to diagnose heart disease, nuclear cardiology employs imaging techniques while the patient is at exercise (treadmill, bike, pharmacy agent etc.) and at rest. The procedure can detect areas of diminished blood flow to the heart or areas of no blood flow that are the cause of heart attack (old or new). These images commonly show the heart's wall motion and the percentage of blood that is pumped from the heart during each contraction. Nuclear cardiology gives an overall review of the functions of the heart.

PET/CT – Provides Detailed 3-D Images for Cancer Detection

St. Mary's Regional Medical Center offers combined PET (Positron Emission Tomography) and CT (Computed Tomography) fusion imaging. Separately, the PET and CT scanners serve as powerful cancer-detecting tools. Used in combination, the technology becomes highly advanced.

The clinical imaging applications for PET/CT are the same as those for PET, including lung, breast, colorectal, esophageal and head and neck cancer, as well as lymphoma and melanoma. It is useful in the diagnosis and staging of other cancers, including ovarian, pancreatic and thyroid cancer. The PET/CT images, when used for the purpose of treatment planning, can identify additional tumor volume, resulting in an even better treatment plan.

How does it work?

A PET scan captures minute chemical and physiological changes related to metabolism. This technology is crucial because function changes often are present before structural changes in tissue. A CT scan is a special type of X-ray that can produce detailed anatomical pictures of structures inside of the body, which is particularly useful in determining the precise location of abnormalities. A CT scanner produces a detailed picture of a ‘slice' of an organ or area. Much clearer than regular X-rays, a CT scan is used to obtain information about the body's organs, blood vessels, abdominal cavity, bones and the spinal cord.

When the technologies are used together, as in PET/CT, identically aligned patient images are captured from both machines. Once merged, the images provide valuable information about cellular abnormalities and show the precise anatomical location of the scanned area. Clinical experience clearly shows that PET/CT images provide valuable information that can be used for early diagnosis, more accurate tumor detection and precise localization, improved biopsy samplingand better assessment of patient responses to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. The ability to fuse these images in one system gives unparalleled views inside the human body, including detailed images of cancerous tumors.

What Happens During the Scanning?

You must not eat anything four to six hours prior to your scan. When you arrive for your scan, a technologist will administer an injection of a radioisotope to help the scanning machine "see" inside your body. This drug has no side effects and will quickly be eliminated from your system.

During the scan, you will lie still on a comfortable table that moves through the PET scanner. You should not feel anything from the scan because the scanner is shaped like a ring and does not touch your body. You should allow about two hours for the procedure. The scan itself will last approximately 45 minutes.

When the scan is complete, you may leave and should be able to eat and drink immediately. Your specialist will thoroughly review your results and communicate with your primary care physician, who will discuss them with you.