General Nuclear Medicine Imaging

What is a General Nuclear Medicine Imaging examination?

Nuclear medicine imaging uses radioactive molecules injected into the body to create images showing how organs function. Unlike CT or MRI scans that show structure, it reveals metabolic activity, blood flow, and disease processes that may not be visible on anatomical imaging.

General Nuclear Medicine Imaging may involve one or several of the following examinations:

• Bone scintigraphy for assessment of bone metastases and other skeletal abnormalities
  
  
• Cardiac studies: Nuclear cardiology services including myocardial perfusion imaging, radionuclide gated-ventriculography, cardiac first-pass study and Tc-99m pyrophosphate imaging for cardiac amyloidosis
  
  
• Neurological imaging:
  • Brain perfusion imaging for cerebrovascular insufficiency and brain death
  • DaTSCAN for neurodegenerative disease
  • Cisternoscintigraphy for CSF leak detection
     
• Renal studies: Complete renal diagnostics including:
  • MAG3 renography for evaluation of kidney function and drainage
  • Captopril studies for renovascular hypertension assessment
  • DMSA renal cortical imaging for scarring and pyelonephritis
  • Nuclear medicine GFR (Glomerular Filtration Rate) measurement for precise kidney function assessment
     
• Endocrine Imaging:
  • Thyroid scintigraphy with correlative ultrasound for functional assessment of thyroid gland
  • Parathyroid scintigraphy with ultrasound correlation for precise lesion localisation in hyperparathyroidism
     
• Gastrointestinal studies: Wide range of diagnostic procedures including:
  • Radiolabelled red blood cells scans
  • Meckel's scan
  • Hepatobiliary imaging
  • Gastric emptying study
  • Liver-spleen scan
  • Peritoneal imaging
     
• Respiratory Studies:
  • Lung studies including V/Q scan for pulmonary embolism
  • Quantitative lung perfusion scan for pre-surgical assessment
     
• Other Imaging:
  • I-123/I-131 MIBG imaging for neuroblastomas / neuroendocrine tumours
  • Lymphoscintigraphy for lymphoedema assessment
  • Sentinel node scintigraphy for breast cancers and melanoma
  • Radionuclide occult lesion localisation (ROLL) for breast cancers
  • Radiolabelled white blood cells scan for infection localisation
     

Things to note on the day of the appointment

Please arrive 20 minutes before your appointment. You will generally be required to have an injection of radioactive tracer material prior to your scan to visualise the areas of interest. In some cases, you may need to wait at least 2 to 4 hours from your injection time before the scan can proceed. 
 

How to prepare for a general Nuclear Medicine imaging examination

For most scans, no specific preparation is required. Our staff will provide you with specific preparation instructions only if required. 
 

What happens during a general Nuclear Medicine imaging examination?

You will be asked to lie on the scan table with the part of your body that needs to be scanned placed within the scanner. No moving parts of the scanner will touch you. During the scan, our Nuclear Medicine technologists will be able to always see and hear you through a 2-way intercom. It is important to stay still during the scan to allow us to obtain the clearest images for you. A typical scan procedure usually takes between 30 to 50 minutes to complete, depending on the type of examination required. In some cases, there may be a need for delayed images that will require additional wait time on your part, before the delayed scan can be performed. 
 

What happens after a general Nuclear Medicine imaging examination?

After the scan, please approach the nurse to have the intravenous plug removed before changing out of the hospital gown. Do continue to drink plenty of fluids for the next few hours to facilitate passing out of the radioactive waste material. After the scan procedure, you can resume all regular activities. For nursing mothers, you should follow the specific advice given to you by our staff before resuming breast feeding.

Our nuclear medicine specialists will read and report your scan images. A report will then be sent to your referring clinician electronically, who will then discuss the scan results with you at your next appointment in the clinic. 
 

What are the possible risks and limitations for a general Nuclear Medicine imaging examination?

The amount of radioactivity in the body from our scans is very small. It will naturally decay and be passed out of the body within several hours depending on the type of radioactive tracer material used. Usually there is no need for you to take special precautions unless otherwise specified.