New Horizon of Medicine
It is a special field of medicine that involves the use of radioactive substance for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment of ailments. Actually, it is radiology done inside out or “endoradiology” because it records radiation emitting from inside the body rather than radiation that is generated by external sources like Xrays.
Uses:
In the field of medicine, nuclear medicines are used to get a visualization of organs and specific regions inside the organs which are unable to visualize by general X-ray radiography. If you come across a certain fracture then general radiography will be enough. To consult the best radiologist in Karachi or Lahore log on to Marham.pk. Due to good visualizing ability nuclear medicines are mainly used for two purposes;
- Diagnosis
- Treatment
Diagnosis:
For diagnostic purposes, radiopharmaceuticals are taken internally; they may be administered, intravenously or orally. Then, external detectors which are gamma cameras capture and produce images from the radiation emitted by internally taken radiopharmaceuticals. Many major abnormalities can be diagnosed by the help of this marvelous medicine technique. Here are some examples of its diagnosis use are listed,
- Bone scan for the evaluations of bone-related pathologies, such as bone pain, minute fracture, infections, nonmalignant bone lesions even bone cancer.
- Myocardial perfusion scan to detect coronary artery disease.
- Parathyroid scan is done to check parathyroid adenoma.
- Hepatobiliary scan (HIDA scan) for detection of the gallbladder disease.
- Thyroid scan with is done for evaluation of hyperthyroidism.
- Normal pulmonary ventilation and perfusion (V/Q) scan for evaluation of pulmonary embolism.
- Whole bodies scan for the detection, staging and follow-up of different type of cancers.
Treatment:
Nuclear medicines are also used for treatment of diseases. In nuclear medicine therapy, dose of the radiation drug is administered internally, maybe intravenously or by oral routes rather than emitting from an external radiation source.
In nuclear medicine therapy, specific radio pharmaceuticals are used which emit ionizing radiation that travels only a short distance, so unwanted side effects and damage to other nearby organs or structures are greatly reduced. Some general medical abnormalities are listed below for which nuclear medicine therapy is used,
- Thyroid cancer
- Refractory lymphoma
- Neuroendocrine tumors
- Palliative bone treatment
- Blood disorders
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