Nuclear Medicine is a medical speciality that uses small amounts of radioactive materials,
known as radiopharmaceuticals, for diagnostic, therapeutic, and research purposes. These
radiopharmaceuticals are specific for the organ, tumour or tissue desired to be studied.
Once injected into a patient these radiopharmaceuticals localise in the area of interest,
which is then imaged using a special camera. Highly simplified, it is something like taking
an X-ray from the inside-out.
Nuclear Medicine is a medical speciality that uses small amounts of radioactive materials,
known as radiopharmaceuticals, for diagnostic, therapeutic, and research purposes. These
radiopharmaceuticals are specific for the organ, tumour or tissue desired to be studied.
Once injected into a patient these radiopharmaceuticals localise in the area of interest,
which is then imaged using a special camera. Highly simplified, it is something like taking
an X-ray from the inside-out.
Nuclear medical procedures are safe, both for the patient and the physicians and
technologist performing the tests. Patients experience little or no discomfort and do not
require anaesthesia. Exposure to radioactivity is monitored closely, and kept well below
safety limits. The radiation exposure is usually as much and often lower than the exposure
produced by a similar radiological study such as CT.
Nuclear medicine technology is a highly patient-oriented field. It is a vigorous, dynamic
field that has seen dramatic growth over the past two decades and is expected to grow even
more in the near future. New radiopharmaceuticals and imagining technologies are
continually being developed.