What is nuclear medicine?
At Qscan Radiology Clinics we offer a range of nuclear medicine studies which are commonly used to diagnose, treat or determine the stage of many diseases, including types of cancer, heart disease, gastrointestinal, endocrine, neurological disorders and other abnormalities in the body.
Nuclear medicine is a medical imaging subspecialty, which has two applications: diagnostic and therapeutic.
Nuclear medicine studies use a small amount of radioactive material called a ‘tracer’ to assess the physiology or function of targeted areas of your body. Tracers are radiopharmaceuticals and are different to the contrast used in a CT scan.
These scans are very sensitive and can pinpoint molecular activity within the body. This means diseases can be identified at an earlier stage – nuclear medicine can detect evidence of abnormalities before they appear on x-ray or ultrasound images.
In therapeutic nuclear medicine, these scans are used to monitor a patient’s response to the treatment in real time. Radiopharmaceuticals are specifically designed to treat a disease by emitting radiation directly at the disease.
Depending on the type of nuclear medicine exam, a tracer is either injected, swallowed, or inhaled as a gas, and it will accumulate in the organ or area of the body being examined. Tracers used for nuclear medicine procedures emit gamma rays, a type of radiation similar to an x-ray.
The gamma rays emitted from the tracer are detected by a gamma camera or imaging device that produces pictures and provides molecular information. Your nuclear medicine technologist will explain the procedure to you before administering the tracer.
Some tests take as little as 30 minutes, some require several appointments over 6 hours, and others require a daily 10-minute visit for 5 consecutive days.
The more commonly performed types of nuclear medicine scans, including bone scans and myocardial perfusion stress (MPS) tests, require a visit in the morning, followed by another visit several hours later in the day. You will usually be allowed to leave the department between appointments. A staff member will give you an approximate duration of your procedure at the time of booking.
Some nuclear medicine procedures require special preparation. A member of our customer service team will inform you of the required preparation for your procedure at the time of booking. Please let a staff member know if you are diabetic and have been instructed to fast so you can be booked in for an earlier appointment.
Most nuclear medicine studies should not be performed during pregnancy. In serious cases, where the benefits of a diagnosis outweigh the risks of disease, urgent scans may be modified for pregnant women to ensure the fetus is exposed to the least amount of radiation possible.
Nuclear medicine imaging procedures are non-invasive and, apart from intravenous injections, are usually painless. No common side effects have been documented from any nuclear medicine procedures. Tracers used for nuclear medicine start to disappear as soon as they are administered, and most are undetectable within 24-48 hours.
The total radiation dose to the body is approximately the same as having a CT scan.
Most radiotracers are passed through breast milk. If you are breastfeeding, please notify our technical staff, who will advise you of any necessary precautions. These precautions usually involve expressing and discarding breast milk for 24-48 hours after your scan.
There are generally no side effects from a nuclear medicine scan. After your scan, you may continue with your normal daily activities, unless advised otherwise by your referring practitioner.
The cost of your nuclear medicine examination will vary according to your medical requirements. Many nuclear medicine examinations are able to be bulk billed, provided all Medicare eligibility requirements have been met.
Our friendly customer service team will advise of any costs related to your nuclear medicine scan.
