Nuclear medicine includes both diagnostic and therapeutic techniques. The diagnostic tests for nuclear medicine include passing radioactive compounds with isotopes through an injection into the patient's body. The radioactive compounds may harm the person's health. However, nuclear medicine uses only a small quantity to diagnose as compared to an x-ray.

Diagnostic tests for nuclear medicines are as follows:

Bone scan: Bone scanning is made by injecting Technetium 99m into the vein in the arm and this will help in locating the bone. Normally bone scanning is done 2 or 3 hours after giving the injection. It is useful in detecting bone diseases. It is far clear than x-ray and CT scan. It is particularly important in cancer patients to detect whether cancer has spread in the bone or not. Bone scanning is safe for all and will not cause any side effects. However, if you are a pregnant or feeding your baby then you should consult the doctor before taking bone scanning.

Thyroid uptake and scan: Nuclear medicine helps to diagnose the functioning of glands and to detect any defect in thyroid glands. Radioiodine is necessary to identify the thyroid glands. A small amount of radioiodine is given to the patient in tablet form before one day of scanning. The patient will be advised not to take any food before and after1 hour of taking tablets. It provides exact images of thyroid glands than the images obtained through CT scan and ultra sound. Normally it will take 1 hour to diagnose thyroid glands in this method. There are no side effects. However, some people may feel like vomiting, chest pain, skin rash, itching etc.

Thyroid uptake and scan helps in diagnosing hyper functioning of thyroid glands, thyroid nodule and thyroid goiter.

Gallium scan: Gallium is a radioactive compound that is injected into patient's vein through the arm and it will spread slowly to all parts of the body. Scan is performed after 2 or 3 days from the day of injection. Gallium scan is useful in diagnosing various diseases.

Nuclear Stress test: This test is helpful in detecting coronary artery diseases. It is non-invasive and a cheap method of diagnosing the disease. This test is performed at two levels of hear functioning, i.e. at rest and at stress.

Gastric emptying: This test is useful in diagnosing gastro paresis, a condition common in diabetic patients.

Diagnostic tests for nuclear medicines are really worth before undergoing any scanning.

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