Nuclear medicine equipment uses advanced technology for diagnostic imaging and treatment. Different types of equipment are designed for specific radioisotopes to detect and track radiation emitted by medical dyes. Nuclear medicine imaging detects metabolic abnormalities and enables early detection of medical problems. It is used in dentistry and veterinary science, with specialized equipment for animals.
Nuclear medicine equipment uses advanced nuclear technology for diagnostic medical imaging and disease treatment. Different types of nuclear medicine equipment are designed for use in conjunction with specific radioisotopes for a variety of imaging purposes. Specialized sensors act as cameras to detect and track radiation emitted by small amounts of radioisotopes or radionuclides in medical dyes. Radiography relied on X-ray equipment for decades before advances in technology allowed for the development of a variety of highly sophisticated nuclear imaging methods. Nuclear medicine imaging equipment enables medical problems to be detected much earlier, as these images are able to show changes in metabolic functioning along with changes in structure.
For nuclear scintigraphy, specialized equipment for nuclear medicine is used, diagnostic imaging of bones and soft tissues. A scintigraphy camera, or gamma camera, detects gamma rays emitted by radionuclides. Radionuclides are combined with drugs to create radiopharmaceuticals, formulated to target specific organs or bone tissue. Nuclear scintigraphy detects metabolic abnormalities, as diseased or injured tissue accumulates radiopharmaceuticals differently than normal tissue, providing diagnostic images that pinpoint medical problems. A computer converts the data collected by the gamma camera into images.
Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) uses a gamma camera that rotates around the specific organ targeted by the radiopharmaceuticals. This nuclear medicine equipment is used in combination with a gamma emitter, which has a relatively long half-life, to show how blood flows to tissues and organs. Instead of being absorbed into tissues and organs, radiopharmaceuticals remain in the bloodstream. Sophisticated computer programs transform the data collected by the gamma camera into images. The computer combines the series of two-dimensional cross sections into a three-dimensional image of the organ under examination.
Positron emission tomography (PET) equipment also creates a three-dimensional image of the body’s tissues or organs. The radiopharmaceuticals concentrate in the tissue or organ being scanned, causing a pair of gamma photons to be emitted. The sensing equipment converts the emissions into light and then into electrical signals which are converted into images by a computer. The table the patient is on shifts and the process repeats, building up a series of images. Particle accelerators produce radioisotopes with very short half-lives for use in PET scans, so this nuclear medical equipment must be located near an accelerator.
Dentistry also uses nuclear medicine equipment for imaging. The health of the teeth, jaw bones and tissues is analyzed using dental radiographs. These images are produced by X-rays and captured on film or an electronic sensor placed in the patient’s mouth. A panoramic view of the whole mouth uses externally placed films or sensors. The use of computed tomography (CT) for dental imaging is expanding as nuclear medicine equipment advances.
Veterinary science uses nuclear medicine equipment made specifically for animals. Specially designed small animal and farm animal equipment is available for imaging purposes. Large animal CT scanners are built to accommodate animals weighing up to a ton. Nuclear scintigraphy is also used in animals to detect lesions in bones and ligaments or to evaluate the functioning of the brain, liver or other organs. As with human patients, a gamma camera and injected radioisotopes are used to visualize bones and internal organs.
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