Nuclear Medicine is a medical specialty that uses very small amounts of radioactive substances, or tracers, to diagnose or treat disease. Tracers are attracted to specific parts of the body. They produce emissions which can be imaged with a special type of camera called a gamma camera. Our physicians interpret the images to determine the cause of the medical problem.

What can I expect?
Before the test begins you will be given a small amount of radioactive material called a radioisotope, this will be injected or swallowed. There should be little or no discomfort involved in the test. Nuclear medicine procedures are safe, effective and painless.

How the test is performed depends on the type of scan your physician has ordered. In many cases there will be a delay between the time you are given the isotope and the time the scan is actually made. This allows the isotope time to flow through the body and concentrate in the organ that is being examined. In some cases, a series of scans will be taken with a delay of an hour or two between them.

In most studies the patient lies comfortably on a table, a large camera is positioned over the body and is moved or rotated around the patient depending on the test. The camera senses the radioactive substance and highlights and displays this information on a screen or film.

Tracers are generally administered by injection into an arm vein, but they may also be inhaled or swallowed. Side effects or adverse reactions are rare, and patients will feel no effect from the tracer itself.

Sometimes a waiting period is required before imaging begins to give the tracer time to accumulate in the area being studied. Nuclear medicine is used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes including hyperthyroidism, thyroid cancer, and pain relief from certain types of bone cancers. Tests done at Alaska Open Imaging Center include: