Shenandoah Memorial Hospital
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Shenandoah Memorial Hospital |
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Nuclear Medicine What is Nuclear Medicine? Nuclear Medicine is the medical specialty that uses very small amounts of radioactive substances or tracers to diagnose medical problems and disease. Tracers are substances that are attracted to specific organs, bones or tissues. When tracers are introduced into the body, they produce emissions. A special type of camera, called a gamma camera, is used to transform these emissions into images. These images provide information not only about the size and shape of the body part, but more importantly the function of the organ or system.
The Nuclear Medicine Exam There are a variety of nuclear medicine procedures, but they follow three principal steps, administering the tracer, obtaining the images and analyzing the images. Tracers are generally given by injection into an arm vein, but they may also be inhaled or swallowed. The type of tracer you receive will depend upon what part of your body or which organ system is being evaluated. Once the tracer has been administered, you may be asked to wait a period of time before imaging begins. The waiting time can vary from a few minutes to few hours depending upon the type of test. This waiting period in necessary because the tracer needs time to accumulate in the area of the body being studied.
Common Nuclear Medicine Exams 1.) Heart Scans identify normal or abnormal
blood flow to the heart muscle, measuring heart 2.) Bone Scans evaluate orthopedic injuries, fractures, tumors or unexplained bone pain 3.) Hepatobillary (Gallbladder) Scans evaluate both liver as well as gallbladder function. This test is often used to confirm or rule out a blockage due to the presence of gallstones. Some of these tests may require the patient to discontinue certain medications, foods, or activities for a period of time, which is not uncommon in other medical procedures or tests also.
Availability The Shenandoah Medical Center is the only facility in the area that offers Nuclear Medicine studies full-time. In December, 2004, Jim Zennie was hired as a full-time technician for the Nuclear Medicine department. Before he joined the team, Omaha technicians came to Shenandoah to administer testing twice a week. Now, Nuclear Medicine can be offered to patients in this area 5 days a week! If you would like more information about this service you may email the Radiology department or call (712) 246-1230. Other Links |
