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Nuclear Medicine

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Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear medicine is a specialized and technical area of radiology in which small

amounts of radioactive materials called radiopharmaceuticals or radiotracers are typically

injected into the bloodstream, swallowed, or inhaled. The radioactive materials travel through

and accumulate in the area under examination, giving off energy through gamma rays. A

computer and a special camera can detect the gamma rays to provide the actual images of the

inside body. The camera primarily takes pictures as the tracer moves through the body organ

and sends information to the computer. Therefore, nuclear medicine procedures use gamma

radiation energy.

Nuclear medicine has arguably been supported to have no harmful effects on humans.

However, it is essential to understand that long-term exposure to this degree of radiation can

cause harm. Therefore, it is vital to prepare patients for nuclear medicine procedures. The

first preparation step involves providing the appropriate PPE to patients and staff members.

According to Huang et al. (2020), using PPE in the nuclear medicine department can help

mitigate and overcome the impacts. Also, patients are required to drink extra fluids.

However, the radiologist should ensure that patients empty their bladders between the

injection and scan.

Moreover, they should take no food or drink, especially caffeine, six hours before the

procedure. The patient should also lie still before the procedure commences. The technique is

vital in ensuring that the images are not blurred.

Like other medical procedures, nuclear medicine also has advantages and

disadvantages. The first notable advantage of nuclear medicine is that it can detect highly

severe medical conditions such as cancer. Also, nuclear medicine is highly accurate and can

offer advanced treatment options for various medical conditions. Notably, nuclear medicine

can provide answers to unclear lab results, thus giving doctors a wide range of disease
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management options. Moreover, it provides a painless way of gathering patient information.

However, nuclear medicine is also linked to severe adverse reactions. Kaur et al. (2020)

confirm that some of the prevalent adverse reactions associated with using

radiopharmaceuticals in nuclear medicine include rashes, dry mouth, sweating, and nausea.

Consequently, despite being effective, nuclear medicine is also expensive to purchase and

maintain equipment.

Nuclear medicine can assess, diagnose and treat various conditions such as organ

enlargement, infections, tumors, and hematomas. The number of radioactive materials used in

diagnosis and treatment often depends on the patient's needs. Nuclear medicine procedures

are being used to treat thyroid cancers and other thyroid disorders such as hyperthyroidism. It

is also used to relieve pains within bone metastases and diagnose and treat blood disorders

such as polycythemia vera and lymphoma.

A Positron emission tomography scan is a form of imaging test that is essential in

revealing biochemical functions of the body tissues and organs. The application of nuclear

medicine techniques relates to positron emission tomography differently. First, a PET scan

uses radioactive drug tracers to achieve its intended goal. This technology is often derived

from nuclear medicine. Like PET scans, nuclear medicine is often used to scan internal body

organs. However, it is key to note that PET scan is primarily used to reveal biomedical

functions, while nuclear medicine is used to diagnose diseases such as cancer and lymphoma

(Zhang et al., 2020). Finally, nuclear medicine relates to PET scans in terms of patient

preparation during their application in practice. Patients are expected to eat only six hours

before undergoing both procedures. To conclude, radiopharmaceuticals are essential in

nuclear medicine. These materials can target specific organs and tissues within the patient’s

body for diagnosis and treatment purposes.

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References

Huang, H. L., Allie, R., Gnanasegaran, G., & Bomanji, J. (2020). COVID-19–Nuclear

medicine departments, be prepared! Nuclear Medicine Communications, 41(4), 297.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7144574/

Kaur, C. D., Mishra, K. K., Sahu, A., Panik, R., Kashyap, P., Mishra, S. P., & Kumar, A.

(2020). Theranostics: New era in nuclear medicine and

radiopharmaceuticals. Medical Isotopes, 1-15.

https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/71624

Zhang, X., Cherry, S. R., Xie, Z., Shi, H., Badawi, R. D., & Qi, J. (2020). Sub-second total-

body imaging using ultrasensitive positron emission tomography. Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences, 117(5), 2265-2267.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/117/5/2265.full.pdf