Medical Services > Radiology Services > Diagnostic Radiology > Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear Medicine

What is nuclear medicine?
Nuclear medicine is a radiology specialty that enables a physician to view anatomy and real-time organ function through the use of small amounts of radioactive agents, called tracers. These tracers move through specific parts of the body while a dedicated nuclear medicine camera captures their images.

Why would I need a nuclear medicine study?
Nuclear medicine procedures, or studies, can help detect and diagnose heart disease, bone injuries or spine abnormalities, as well as problems affecting the gall bladder and other organs in the body.

Cancers can be clearly identified through nuclear medicine procedures, often before they are visible on other imaging tests such as a CT scan or MRI.

Nuclear medicine is frequently used to see how well a disease is responding to treatment such as chemotherapy or radiation. It can also be used to evaluate brain and heart function, and blood supply to a particular organ.

Thyroid diseases and certain types of cancers may be treated using nuclear medicine.

What to Expect
Prior to the procedure, the patient will be given a small amount of tracer material, either by pill, inhalation or injection, depending on the part of the body being scanned.

This tracer is prepared individually for each patient and is timed to the scheduled appointment, so it is very important that patients arrive on time.

Depending on the type of exam and the part of the body being tested, the patient may be asked to come in first to receive the tracer, and come back later for the test. Some nuclear medicine studies require that the patient return multiple times in the same week. When it is time to obtain the images with the camera, the patient will be asked to lie on an exam table.

The exam takes between five minutes and four hours, depending on the particular test.

Female patients who may be pregnant or are breastfeeding should discuss this with the physician and technologist prior undergoing a nuclear medicine scan.

Nuclear medicine is among Greenwich Hospital’s broad range of diagnostic and interventional radiology services.

Radiology services are generally pain-free, non-invasive and available to both outpatients and inpatients.