What is nuclear scintigraphy used for?

Nuclear scintigraphy uses very small, tracer amounts of radioactive molecules to diagnose diseases involving bone, soft tissues and vessels. We can attach these molecules to agents that bind to bone lesions, soft tissue tumors and sites of infection.

What is scintigraphy used to diagnose?

A procedure that produces pictures (scans) of structures inside the body, including areas where there are cancer cells. Scintigraphy is used to diagnose, stage, and monitor disease. A small amount of a radioactive chemical (radionuclide) is injected into a vein or swallowed.

What is scintigraphy Veterinary?

Scintigraphy is an advanced imaging modality used to evaluate certain abnormalities of the skeleton. It uses radioactive tracers that allow the identification of changes in bone metabolism before they become visible on radiographs – for example, for identifying hairline fractures.

What is the FDG PET scintigraphy?

Background: Bone scintigraphy is the standard procedure for the detection of bone metastases in breast cancer patients. FDG-PET/CT has been reported to be a sensitive tool for tumor staging in different malignant diseases.

Is MRI nuclear?

MRI is based on nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), whose name comes from the interaction of certain atomic nuclei in the presence of an external magnetic field when exposed to radiofrequency (RF) electromagnetic waves of a specific resonance frequency.

How do you prepare for a scintigraphy?

You will be asked to drink extra fluids after the radiotracer is injected, so limit your fluids for up to four hours before the test. You probably will have to wait several hours between injection of the tracer and the bone scan, so you may want to bring something to read or work on to pass the time.

What should I do after scintigraphy?

You can return to your normal daily activities, including your work. You can eat and drink. You may be told to drink lots of water. In fact, the little radioactivity remaining after the scan is eliminated naturally through your urine and stools.

Why is Nuclear scintigraphy not used in veterinary medicine?

Although around for >60 years, nuclear scintigraphy is still relatively unused in veterinary medicine because it uses radionuclides, which are expensive and heavily regulated. In addition, the images derived from the studies are physiologic in nature and therefore quite unfamiliar to most veterinarians.

What is scintigraphy procedure in nuclear medicine?

The scintigraphy procedure is a nuclear medicine diagnostic technique that uses radioactive isotopes to recognize and accompany various pathologies. This term also designates the specialty in charge of studying and applying the said methodology. Continue reading to find out more about it.

What are the limitations of nuclear medicine imaging in veterinary medicine?

The major issue with using nuclear medicine imaging in veterinary medicine is not the availability of gamma cameras or the technical expertise required to operate them. Cameras are readily available on the used market, and training of technologists to operate them is not prohibitively complex.

Can scintigraphy be used to diagnose thyroid cancer in dogs?

Scintigraphy can determine both the size of the primary tumor as well as the location of the metastases that occur in 65 to 90% of these dogs. Quantitative thyroid imaging is a useful tool in confirming a diagnosis of hypothyroidism in dogs.