In This Section
What is Nuclear Medicine
Nuclear medicine and molecular imaging specialists use safe, painless and cost-effective techniques to image the body and treat disease. These techniques are unique because they provide doctors with information about both structure and function. They provide a way to gather medical information that would otherwise be unavailable, require surgery or necessitate more expensive diagnostic tests. Nuclear medicine and molecular imaging procedures often identify abnormalities very early in the progress of a disease—long before many medical problems are apparent with other diagnostic tests.
Nuclear medicine uses very small amounts of radioactive materials (radiopharmaceuticals) to diagnose and treat disease. In imaging, the radiopharmaceuticals are detected by special types of cameras that work with computers to provide very precise pictures about the area of the body being imaged. In treatment, the radiopharmaceuticals go directly to the organ being treated.
Today, nuclear medicine offers procedures that are essential in many medical specialties, from pediatrics to cardiology to psychiatry. New and innovative nuclear medicine and molecular imaging treatments that target and pinpoint molecular levels within the body are revolutionizing our understanding of and approach to a range of diseases and conditions.