

They can also show whether you are responding to treatment.Ĭardiac nuclear medicine is useful in diagnosing and assessing coronary artery disease. This gives them the potential to find disease in its earliest stages. Nuclear medicine exams pinpoint molecular activity. These include cancer, heart disease, gastrointestinal, endocrine, or neurological disorders, and other conditions.

Doctors use nuclear medicine to diagnose, evaluate, and treat various diseases. Nuclear medicine uses small amounts of radioactive material called radiotracers. Leave jewelry at home and wear loose, comfortable clothing. Depending on the type of exam, your doctor will instruct you on what you may eat or drink beforehand, especially if sedation is to be used. Tell your doctor if there's a possibility you are pregnant or if you are breastfeeding and discuss any recent illnesses, medical conditions, allergies and medications you're taking. Nuclear medicine imaging provides unique information that often cannot be obtained using other imaging procedures. The radiotracer travels through the area being examined and gives off energy in the form of gamma rays which are detected by a special camera and a computer to create images of the inside of your body. Nuclear medicine uses small amounts of radioactive materials called radiotracers that are typically injected into the bloodstream, inhaled or swallowed.

It also may be used to help determine whether the heart has been damaged by chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Cardiac nuclear medicine imaging evaluates the heart for coronary artery disease and cardiomyopathy (diseases of the heart muscle).
