Nuclear medicine specialists use safe, painless, and cost-effective techniques to image the body and treat disease. Nuclear medicine imaging is unique, because it provides doctors with information about both structure and function. It is a way to gather medical information that would otherwise be unavailable, require surgery, or necessitate more expensive diagnostic tests.
What are Some Common Uses of Nuclear Medicine?
Physicians use radionuclide imaging procedures to visualize the structure and function of an organ, tissue, bone or system of the body.
Nuclear medicine imaging scans are performed to:
- Analyze kidney function
- Visualize heart blood flow and function (such as a myocardial perfusion scan)
Scan lungs for respiratory and blood flow problems
- Identify inflammation in the gallbladder
Evaluate bones for fractures, infection, arthritis and tumors
- Determine the presence or spread of cancer in various parts of the body
- Identify bleeding into the bowel
- Locate the presence of infection
- Measure thyroid function to detect an overactive or under active thyroid
- Investigate abnormalities in the brain, such as seizures, memory loss and abnormalities in blood flow
- Localize the lymph nodes before surgery in patients with breast cancer or melanoma.
Nuclear medicine procedures are performed at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Delaware County Memorial Hospital, Springfield Hospital, Taylor Hospital, Media Medical Imaging and the Crozer Medical Plaza at Brinton Lake.