The Nuclear Medicine Center

The Nuclear Medicine Center provides diagnostic and treatment capabilities using several appropriate radiopharmaceuticals for the examination of organs.

• For diagnosis, radiopharmaceuticals are injected into the body, travel to the target organ and emit radiation that can be detected by a scanner. This involves the administration of a trace amount of radiopharmaceutical, which is completely cleared from the body, ensuring no residual presence. These procedures are utilized for various purposes such as evaluating renal function, screening for cancer, and assessing metastasis.
• For treatment, radiopharmaceuticals can be employed in the management certain types of cancer, such as thyroid cancer and certain types of cancer. Additionally, radiopharmaceuticals can be utilized to relieve bone pain resulting from cancer.

Our Clinical Service

• SPECT/CT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography/Computed Tomography)
  This is a combination of two imaging techniques, SPECT and CT. SPECT uses gamma ray emitted from radiopharmaceuticals that can be detected by a scanner to create images of the body. Radiopharmaceuticals are chosen based on their suitability for the organ being examined, using a small amount of radiation appropriate for the age and body weight, without any residual presence in the body. For example:
  • Bone scan:  ^99mTechnetium-methylene diphosphonate (^99mTc -MDP) is utilized for assessing bone abnormalities such as bone metastasis, bone infections, and mandibular growth through injection.
  • Renal scan: ^99mTc-MAG3 or ^99mTc-DTPA is injected to assess the renal function, enabling the determination of the percentage function of each kidney individually. This diagnostic procedure can also detect kidney obstruction and evaluate kidney transplant function through injection.
  • Cardiac scan: ^99mTc-MIBI or ²⁰¹Tl chloride is used to assess left ventricular function and diagnose myocardial infarction.
• PET/CT (Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography)
  This is a combination of two imaging techniques, PET and CT. PET uses positrons emitted from radiopharmaceuticals that can be detected by a scanner to create images of the body. It can detect organ abnormalities at the molecular level.
  
  • Radiopharmaceuticals are chosen based on their suitability for the organ being examined, using a small amount of radiation appropriate for the age and body weight, without any residual presence in the body. For example:
  • Cancer scan: 18F-FDG can diagnose multiple types of cancer, assess cancer metastasis, evaluate the response to cancer treatment, detect infections, and identify the cause of unknown fever origin.
  • Prostate cancer scan: 68Ga-PSMA is a highly accurate method for detecting and diagnosing prostate cancer, and it can also be used to assess and monitor treatment progress.
  • The diagnosis of brain dysfunctions, such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and epilepsy, can be achieved through the use of 18F-FDG or 18F-FDOPA.

Diseases We Treat

Radiopharmaceuticals not only have diagnostic capabilities but can also be used to treat certain types of cancer and provide relief from bone pain caused by cancer.

For example

• Iodine-131 (131I) is used for the treatment of thyroid cancer, hyperthyroidism, and thyrotoxicosis.
• Samarium-153 (153Sm) can relieve bone pain caused by metastatic cancer, and it can also help increase patient survival.

Special inspection tools and technology

• PET/CT (Positron Emission Tomography/Computed Tomography)
• SPECT-CT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography/Computed Tomography)