A brain perfusion scan assesses the amount of blood taken up in certain areas of the brain, providing information on brain function. A radioactive tracer will be injected into your body, and a nuclear medicine scanner will be used to track how the tracer spreads through your brain, showing which areas received most of the tracer. Your referring practitioner may recommend this scan if you have epilepsy, dementia, a brain tumour, recent head injury, stroke, or a brain bleed.

This type of scan is performed to assess how quickly food is emptied from your stomach, and they are most commonly used to diagnose gastroparesis. For this scan, you will eat a light meal which contains a small amount of a radioactive tracer. Then, over the course several hours we will take a series of images of your abdomen, tracking how the tracer is moving and how long it takes to pass through your stomach and into your gastrointestinal tract.

A hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid (HIDA) scan can be used to help diagnose liver, gall bladder and bile duct conditions. A radioactive tracer is injected into the body, where it travels to the liver and is taken up by bile-producing cells. From here it travels to the gall bladder and bile ducts, and through to the small intestine. The nuclear medicine scanner can track the tracer and produce images of these structures. The scan can help determine conditions such as inflammation, obstruction, bile leaks and fistulas, and aid in assessing liver transplants. 

Lymphoscintigraphy is a type of nuclear medicine examination which provides images of the lymphatic system. The lymphatic system transports fluid through the body’s immune system. This test is often used to find the sentinel lymph node, which is the first node to receive lymph drainage from a tumour. It can also be used to identify lymphoedema. The location and number of radioactive tracer injections will vary depending on the requested scan. 

A parathyroid scan is used to locate enlarged, overactive or abnormal parathyroid glands, which are found near the thyroid gland. In some cases, a person’s parathyroid glands may be ectopic, meaning they are found in abnormal places. This type of nuclear medicine examination can help to locate these glands and is commonly performed before surgery to remove the glands. A radioactive tracer will be injected and absorbed by the glands, which then appear on imaging. 

A DMSA renal scan is a nuclear medicine examination which assesses the function of the kidneys.. This scan be used to help determine conditions including infection, scarring, urinary reflux, renal failure or trauma, and more.

A MAG-3/DPTA renal scan is a nuclear medicine examination which assesses the function of a kidney, check for obstruction, loss of function and more. 

A thyroid study is a nuclear medicine examination which can help diagnose a range of conditions including hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, cancer and others. You will be injected with a small amount of a radioactive tracer which will travel to your thyroid. After about 20 minutes you will then lie on the scanning bed, and images will be taken of your thyroid. 
Indications include: 

• Abnormal thyroid function tests 
• Evaluate solid nodule 
• Suspected Graves’ Disease
   

A ventilation perfusion lung scan, also known as a VQ lung scan, measure how well air and blood flows through your lungs. The scan is made up of two parts. The first study measures the air flow (ventilation) – you will be asked to breathe in a small amount of low-risk radioactive gas, and a scanner will take images of your chest to assess the air flow (ventilation) in your lungs. For the second scan, a low-risk radioactive dye will be injected into your arm, which will travel through your blood to your lungs. The scanner will then take images of your chest to assess the blood flow in your lungs. 

Indications include: 

• Suspected pulmonary embolism
• Evaluate pulmonary hypertension
• Ensure resolution of proven embolism