Nuclear Medicine & PET Overview

The following are some of our subspecialties:

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

Advanced imaging technique for oncology, neurology and cardiology. State-of-the-art fusion PET/CT scanner provides functional information with anatomic correlation.

Nuclear Medicine Therapy

• Radioiodine therapy for thyroxicosis, differentiated thyroid carcinomas
• Bone pain palliative therapy using Strontium-89 chloride, Samarium-153, Rhenium-188
• Yttrium-90 microspheres treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma
• Conjugated anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody therapy for refractory/relapsed low-grade non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
• Phosphorus-32 therapy for refractory polycythemia rubra vera

Specialised Advanced Nuclear Medicine Scans

• In111-octreotide imaging for neueroendocrine tumours such as carcinoids, gastrinomas, insulinomas
• I-131 MIBG imaging for phaeochromocytomas, paragangliomas and neuroblastomas
• Sentinel node scintigraphy for breast carcinomas
• CSF shunt studies
• Labelled white-blood cells scan for infection

Routine Nuclear Medicine Scans

• Bone scintigraphy for assessment of bone metastases and other skeletal abnormalities
• Gastric emptying studies
• Nuclear cardiology with myocardial perfusion imaging, radionuclide gated-ventriculography and right heart first-pass cardiac studies
• Brain perfusion imaging for cerebrovascular insufficiency, epilepsy, brain death
• Renal imaging including renography, captopril studies, renal cortical imaging
• Thyroid scintigraphy for assessment of thyroid nodules, thyroid uptake studies for thyroid function
• Parathyroid scintigraphy for localisation of parathyroid adenomas in primary hyperparathyroidism
• Gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary studies including radionuclide tagged-red blood cells scan for bleeding, Meckel's scan, biliary scans for biliary obstruction.

Non-Imaging Nuclear Medicine Tests

• Cr-51 EDTA renal clearance study for evaluation of glomerular filtration rate
• Bone mineral densitometry - for assessment of bone mass and evaluation of osteopenia and osteoporosis
• The Helicobacter pylori C-14 breath test and a comprehensive range of hormone assays for accessing thyroid, fertility and metabolic functions are available from the Endocrine Laboratories.