How are nuclear medicine scans done?
As stated above, nuclear medicine scans may be performed on many organs and tissues of the body. Each type of scan employs certain technology, radiopharmaceuticals, and procedures. A nuclear medicine scan consists of three phases: tracer (radiopharmaceutical) administration, taking images, and image interpretation. The amount of time between administration of the tracer and the taking of the images may range from a few moments to a few days, depending on the body tissue being examined and the tracer being used. The time required to obtain the images may also vary from minutes to hours. One of the most commonly performed nuclear medicine examinations is a heart scan. Myocardial perfusion scans and radionuclide angiography scans are the two primary heart scans. In order to give an example of how nuclear medicine scans are done, the process for a heart scan is presented below. Although each hospital may have specific protocols in place, generally a heart scan may follow this process: • Th
