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Nuclear Medicine

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Nuclear Medicine
Brenda L. Clark
Argosy University
Contemporary Applications of the Sciences
Module 4 Assignment 2
Dr. Frankin Barrish

Nuclear medicine is being used to help fight diseases as well as being able to take
Images of an individual’s body (News Medical, 2015). The radioactive substance works with the nuclear medicine and this is important because it aids with looking inside the opaque human body (News Medical, 2015). Within this paper you will read how the technical and scientific perceptions relate to nuclear medicine. The most common radiation is radiopharmaceutical in regards to nuclear medicine procedures that are being done today (American Cancer Society, 2015). The radiopharmaceutical is the radioactive pharmaceutical and is used in diagnosing and treating diseases such as cancer (American Cancer Society, 2015). This type of radiation is injected, ingested, or inhaled in the individual’s body before the doctor is able to diagnose what the individual is dealing with (Mosby Dictionary, 2009). The imaging technique is how the doctor is able to do this. This type of radiation is also used for relieving pain or help to treat the disease. This type of radiation operates once it is hosted within the body and then travels to certain areas that have abnormality (Mosby Dictionary, 2009). The radioactive part of the pharmaceutical releases the gamma rays and then the gamma camera is able to pick it up (Mosby Dictionary, 2009). This is how a doctor determines the diagnosis. Preparing an individual is very important when using nuclear medicine because it can cause other problems to arise (How Nuclear Medicine Works, 2015). There are different ways in preparing an individual and it depends on the type of test being done (How Nuclear Medicine Works, 2015). A gown is most commonly used, but if an individual is pregnant than there are other steps needed to protect that person. Metallic material should not be worn while the test is being taken, because it can interfere with the results. Also any medication that the individual is taken the doctors needs to know about (How Nuclear Medicine Works, 2015).
In most cases nuclear medicine examinations identify health problems earlier than the other imaging examination methods (Nuclear Medicine and You, 2015). The entire body can be analyzed with nuclear medicine imaging (Nuclear Medicine and You, 2015). The advantage to this is if lesions have occurred. Nuclear medicine examinations also provide additional information to other diagnostics examinations (Nuclear Medicine and You, 2015). The major disadvantage is anatomic resolution (Nuclear Medicine and You, 2015). Nuclear medicine images aren't "pretty," they do not show much anatomic detail (Nuclear Medicine and You, 2015). For this reason, we have started to combine modalities. It is now possible to get a PET-CT which provides both anatomic and physiologic information. Another disadvantage is the exposure to radiation (Nuclear Medicine and You, 2015). A typical nuclear medicine exam exposes a patient to a little more radiation than a chest x-ray but less than a CT scan. The benefit of having a nuclear medicine exam outweighs the risk of not having it. Cancer, Alzeimers disease (neurological disorders), and cardiovascular diseases are three types of disease that nuclear medicine imaging diagnoses (National Academy of Sciences, 2007). Nuclear medicine, which includes PET scans is a type of imaging that uses small amounts of radioactive material to evaluate molecular activity within the body. It can be used to help diagnose many types of diseases and disorders at an early stage, as well as to see how your body is responding to therapy (National Academy of Sciences, 2007). Some examples of why PET/CT scans are performed: determine the blood flow to the heart muscle, detect cancer and determine if it has spread in the body, determine the effects of a heart attack on areas of the heart. These are just few examples, but there are many other reasons why a PET/CT scan is performed. Positron annihilation is an application that is used in nuclear medicine in PET scans. As we have read nuclear medicine imaging has the potential to further improve patient care in a variety of ways.

References

News Medical. (2015). Retrieved March 16, 2015 from http://www.news-

medical.net/health/What-is-Nuclear-Medicine.aspx

American Cancer Society. (2015). Retrieved March 16, 2015 from

http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/treatmenttypes/radiation/radiat

iontherapyprinciples/radiation-therapy-principles-how-is-radiation-given-

radiopharmaceuticals

diagnostic radiopharmaceutical. (n.d.) Mosby's Medical Dictionary, 8th edition. (2009).

Retrieved March 16 2015 from http://medical

dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/diagnostic+radiopharmaceutical

Freudenrich, Ph.D., Craig. "How Nuclear Medicine Works" 18 October 2000.

HowStuffWorks.com. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-medicine.htm> 16

March 2015.

Nuclear Medicine and You (2015). Retrieved March 16, 2015 from

http://www.whatisnuclearmedicine.com/You-73-Advantages

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