Nuclear Medicine By: Amanda Taulanga

3B

What is Nuclear Medicine?o There are different types of nuclear medicine,

one being a safe, pain less, and effective way to image the body. (examples: Radiopharmaceutical, X-Ray, CT- Scan, PET scan, etc...)

o Another type of nuclear medicine is used to cure cancer and diseases by radiation therapy. For cancer and some diseases they use chemotherapy which puts small amounts of radiation into body killing all cells in body even the good ones hoping to kill the bad/cancer cells first. This process is harmful but helpful and can be effective.

What types of diseases can be diagnosed with nuclear medicine and

what can be seen with it?o There are about 5,000 nuclear medicine

facilities in the U.S that perform almost 18,000,000 procedures a year. Nuclear medicine can diagnose a wide variety of diseases. It can be used to identify abnormal lesions without exploratory surgery and also tell whether or not certain organs are functioning okay. It can determine blood volume, lung function, vitamin absorption, and bone density. It can also determine the early stages of epilepsy, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's disease.

The types of diseases that can be treated with nuclear

medicine.o Neurological Diseases: Alzheimer's, Dementia, Seizure disorders.

o Coronary Artery Diseaseo Many types of cancer: Leukemia, Breast, ect…o Endocrine Diseases: Thyroid, Parathyroid, Adrenalo Gastrointestinal Diseases: Stomach, Liver,

Gallbladdero Genitourinary Diseases: Kidneys, Bladder , Testicleso Pulmonary Diseaseso Bone Diseaseso Traumao Infections

o At the left is a picture of a radiopharmaceutical. This is an example of a type of nuclear medicine it is a type of gamma ray that they inject into your vein. You can also inhale or swallow. The radiotracer injected into the vein emits gamma radiation as it decays a gamma camera scans the radiation area and creates an image.

What radioisotopes are most often used in nuclear

medicine?• Since the discovery of artificially

produced radioisotopes the most common isotope used in nuclear medicine is Radioiodine (131I) and 99m-technetium. These radioisotopes are used mostly in imaging the circulatory system, and skeletal.

• Iodine-125 and Iridium-192 are the main radioisotopes in curing many types of diseases and cancer.

Advantages and Disadvantages of treating diseases with nuclear

medicine.o There are many advantages of treating

diseases with nuclear medicine just as there are disadvantages. Treating diseases with nuclear medicine (chemotherapy) has a 50/50% chance of getting cured depending on what stage it is at and if its acute or not. The disadvantages of this is the other 50% can make you really sick, can cause mental dysfunctions, and possible early death. Imaging although with nuclear medicine is very good. We are able to see inside the body , the func-

o Tion of the organs and how the are working. This gives us an advantage because we are able to see early development of cancer, tumors, ect… without having to do exploratory surgery. Although, the long term effects of getting imaged to much can result in cancer. Too much radiation in the body is a factor of cancer.

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o At the top left is a picture of an image that the PET scan can see. (Type of nuclear medicine). It can see early developments of cancer before anything else can see or tell.

o At the top right is a picture of the PET (Positron Emission tomography) scan machine.

Are there other forms of nuclear medicine? What are

they?o Yes, there are many different forms of nuclear medicine. There is a form where it is used to treat the diseases, examples: chemotherapy, radiation shots. And there is nuclear medicine used to image and see if you have a developing diseases or cancer, example: MRI, PET scan, CT, X-Ray, Bone scans, Brain perfusion imaging, Ceretec infection imaging, Cistern gram, and Breast lymphoscinitigraphy. The list goes on,

Do the other forms of nuclear medicine pose a health risk for the patient or doctor? To

what extent are they regulated?

o Yes, they do to an extent, but certain ones. For instance PET and CT scans are the ones that carry the most radiation. One CT scan is equal to 32 X-Rays. Too much radiation in the body can cause cancer and that poses a health risk to the patients. Not necessarily the doctors. They are regulated to an extent that you should only get one if you absolutely have to and if you need it.