Nuclear Medicine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Nuclear Medicine - Essay Example In nuclear medicine, technique imaging procedure is used to diagnose or treat disease. The imaging procedure in this medicinal field is non – invasive and is comprised of painless medical tests. The imaging scans involved in nuclear medicine make use of radioactive material like radiotracers and radiopharmaceuticals. Depending on the nature of treatment the radioactive material is injected, inhaled or swallowed to produce energy called gamma rays in the particular organ of the body being diagnosed. These gamma rays are detected with the help of PET camera, gamma camera or probe. All these devices work in assistance with computer to analyze the amount of radiotracer absorbed by the body and delivers complete detail about the specific organ. Nuclear medicine also provides therapeutically procedures to treat cancer and other thyroid related problems. Here the radioactive iodine therapy is used where radioactive materials help in treating the diseases. Nuclear medicine images coul d be superimposed with the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computer tomography (CT).Generally nuclear medicine procedures are performed with the help of gamma camera with which pictures can be taken from various angles. The highlight of the nuclear medicine is that it helps the doctors in looking inside the human body which otherwise is opaque. Both the physiology and anatomy of the body is considered in nuclear medicine while treating or diagnosing a disease. Since human body is opaque, it is difficult to look into it and with the help of imaging device and computers they are able to diagnose and perform various treatments. The different nuclear imaging techniques are positron emission tomography (PET), Single photon emission computer tomography (SPECT), cardiovascular imaging and Bone scanning. These techniques make use of various radioactive materials to produce an image. These techniques help in detecting tumors, blood flow to blood vessels, disorders in blood cells, disfun ctioning of organs and pulmonary and thyroid disfunctioning. In nuclear medicine, a substance containing radionuclide or radioactive isotope is administered into the body. This emitted radioactive material is either used to diagnose a disease in the body or destroy diseased cells. It has taken more than fifty years for the nuclear medicine field to reach a breakthrough point where it could be helpful for human kind. Previously, the role of nuclear medicine was limited only to diagnosis and now it has changed o treatment of various diseases. The first demonstration of nuclear imaging technique was performed in 1946 on thyroid tumors. Nuclear medicine imaging is a functional imaging tool and helps in checking the proper functioning of bodily organs. Apart from this nuclear medicine is the only technique which helped in proving the brain death case.MRI scans, X-rays or ultra-sound cannot make the difference between dead and live tissues and hence cannot detect occurrence of brain death . So it can be understood that the nuclear medicine technology is so powerful that it can monitor the most important organ like brain. Nuclear medicine specialist use painless, safe and cost efficient techniques to perform body imaging and treat various diseases. Nuclear medicine imaging is different, as it allows the physicians and doctors to understand the structure and function of the body of patients. Nuclear medicine uses very minimal amount of radioactive material and hence it is not harmful to people. The amount of radiation received usually in nuclear imaging is equal to diagnostic x- ray and it is very safe for patients. In nuclear medicine the importance is given to the chemistry and function rather than structure. Radioactive tracers of fatty acids, glucose and amino acids helps in