Patient Preparation

• Depending on the body part to be examined, your Nuclear

Medicine
physician or our staff may provide specific instructions
on how to prepare for the examination. You should
follow these closely.

• Before your examination, a nuclear medicine

technologist or a nurse will explain the procedure to
you and answer any questions you might have.

• Tell the nuclear medicine technologist/nurse if you

have any allergies and if you are undergoing radiation
therapy because these factors may require adjustments
on how the examination is performed.

Fig 3: Bone SPECT • Be sure to tell the nuclear medicine technologist/nurse

if you are pregnant or are breastfeeding. Nuclear
medicine tests usually are not recommended for women
who are pregnant.

Fig 4: Tc-99m MAG-3

renogram of a female
patient revealing
hydronephrotic left
kidney with mildly
impaired function, without
obstruction.

After the Examination

Pte Ltd
After the examination, your scans will be reviewed by the
nuclear medicine physician, specialist in interpreting the
diagnostic medical images. Your physician will receive a 290 Orchard Road #08-06 Paragon Medical

written report of the results. Singapore 238859

After most nuclear medicine procedures it is generally For more information please contact us at:

Co. Reg. No: 200711085N

best to drink a lot of fluids and urinate as frequent as
Tel: 6836 1318 Fax: 6836 1381
you can. This helps to flush the remaining radioactivity
out of your body. The length of time you need to do this Website: www.molecularimaging.com.sg
will depend on the kind of study you had and the type of
radiopharmaceutical that was used. Email: enquiry@molecularimaging.com.sg Pte Ltd

5 6
What is Nuclear Medicine?
Nuclear Medicine is a branch of medicine that uses small
amounts of radioactive substances either to image the
body and its organs or to destroy diseased cells. These
substances consist of radionuclides, or pharmaceuticals
that have been labeled with radionuclides (radiopharmac
euticals).
Nuclear Medicine is unique because it shows how
organs and tissues are working. While X-rays, computed
tomography (CT), ultrasound, and magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) provide details predominantly about the
structure of the body and are consequently anatomically
based, nuclear medicine assesses the effects of disease on
tissue function.
How Does it Work?
The technology is highly complex, but generally the
procedure follows these 4 basic steps:
(1) The patient is given a radioactive compound called
radiopharmaceutical which is injected, swallowed
or inhaled. The compounds are attracted to specific
organs, bones or tissues.
(2) As the radiopharmaceutical travels through the body,
it gives off gamma rays (radiation) which shows the
location of the compound in the body.
(3) Special equipment called gamma camera detects the
gamma rays and records them as flashes of light. These
are used to create pictures of the part of the body being
studied. The information then records on the computer
screen or on film.
(4) The results are interpreted by a nuclear medicine
physician. Your personal physician will receive a report
of the findings, then will advise you of the results and
discuss what further procedures, if any are needed.
2 3
It can also identify site of seizures (epilepsy), Parkinson’s
disease, and Alzheimer’s disease.
After a heart attack, nuclear medicine procedures
can assess the damage to the heart. It can diagnose
functional significance of coronary artery disease, assess
risk of future cardiac events and determine effectiveness
of revascularisation procedures (angioplasty, CABG).
During the Examination
A tracer is administered by injecting it into a vein, taking
it by mouth and inhaling it in aerosol form. Once given,
depending on the type of the scan, you may be asked to
wait about 20 minutes to 2 hours. The staff will advise you
about the nature of the scan.
For some nuclear medicine studies, imaging takes place
immediately, for others, images are taken an hour, two
hours or even several days after administration of the
Figure 1: High resolution whole body bone scan
radiopharmceuticals. In some cases you are permitted
to leave the clinic and return later for the imaging
procedure.
What Type of Diseases Can Nuclear
Medicine Diagnose? Most nuclear medicine procedures require several
different images from different angles and the
Nuclear Medicine can diagnose different type of diseases.
technologist may ask you to change position during the
It can be used to identify abnormal lesions deep in the
examination. You will need to lie still during the scan.
body without exploratory surgery. The procedures can also
determine whether or not certain organs are functioning
normally. For example, it can determine whether or not the
heart is pumping blood adequately, if the brain is receiving
adequate blood supply. Nuclear medicine can evaluate
kidney function and any obstruction. It can also evaluate
flow, function and rejection of transplanted kidney. It can
determine whether the stomach is emptying properly and
can detect unknown site of bleeding in bowel. Nuclear
medicine can locate the smallest bone fracture before it
can be seen on an x-ray. It can detect and stage different
cancers, their spread to the bones and response to
Figure 2: Thyroid Scans
treatment.
4