The Type of Radiation that is typically exploited in most Nuclear Medicine procedures
Nuclear medicine has become popular globally for its ease in diagnosing and treating many diseases. According to CDC (2014), the procedure involves the introduction of a radioactive substance (radiopharmaceutical) into the body, which releases radiation while moving through the tissues. Notably, The ionizing radiations from the radiopharmaceutical are tracked, and an image of the body organ or tissue under study is produced, from which conclusions about diagnosis or treatment will be based. However, the most commonly exploited radiation in nuclear medicine is gamma radiation emitted by many radionuclides (Parvaresh, Haghparast, Khoshgard, Jalili, Eivazi, & Ghorbani, 2018). Gamma radiation clearly indicates the position and concentration of the isotope, which guides in detecting a malfunction of the organ more easily according to the World Nuclear Association, 2020.
Ways through which Patients are prepared for Nuclear Medicine Procedures
While carrying out these procedures, it is important to ensure the safety of the patients. Given the fact that too much exposure to radiations can damage tissues or organs understudy and also contribute to the risk of developing cancers, the benefits of use should outweigh the potential risks (Centers for disease control and prevention, 2014). Therefore patients should be educated about the procedure and protecting from extreme exposure. According to John Hopkins Medicine (2020), patients should also remove any objects that would interfere with radiations with an Intra Venous line introduced prior to the procedure.
The advantages and limitations of nuclear medicine
Nuclear medicine is advantageous in a way that nuclear imaging helps to study both the anatomy and physiology of the organ targeted. Compared to the standard X-rays, the nuclear radiations penetrate easily through soft tissues such as small intestines, blood vessels and muscle to give a clearer image of both their anatomy and functioning (John Hopkins Medicine, 2020). However, the limitation to nuclear medicine use is in its safety margin. Therefore, very small amounts of radiation are required, and a very low safety margin.
The ailments are typically diagnosed and treated via nuclear medicine procedures?
Nuclear medicine has been used to diagnose and treat several medical illnesses. According to CDC (2014), heart disease, gall bladder diseases and thyroid diseases are commonly diagnosed using nuclear medicine. Heart disease diagnosis employs the use of a positron emission tomography (PET) scans or a stress test involving technetium-99m radioactive substance. The world nuclear association (2020) adds that nuclear medicine has found popularity in treating numerous cancers such as leukaemia. Therefore the above are the ailments diagnosed via nuclear medicine procedures.
Evaluation of three applications of Nuclear Medicine relating to “PET scan.”
Positron emission tomography (PET) scans are an important diagnostic technique in diagnosing several conditions with a profound application in cardiology, psychiatry and oncology fields of medicine (Anand, Singh & Dash, 2009). Furthermore, the same study mentions that PET scans basically detect any forms of altered metabolism in the tissue, and hence proves the cellular functioning of the cells.
In Cardiology, PET scans are used in the diagnosis of heart disease. Rubidium-82, Technetium-99, Nitrogen-13, and Thallium 201 compounds are commonly used to examine perfusion of the myocardium. PET scans can tell which areas of the muscle are ischemic and require replenishing by comparing regional blood flow with the fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake. Therefore, FDG PET scans can help to assess the viability of the heart muscle based on glucose utilization.
In oncology, FDG/PET scans have also found great use in diagnosing several tumours. This technique applies molecular imaging to detect and characterize the tumour lesions and help guide treatment. FDG/PET scans help in carrying out biopsies by distinguishing metabolically active cells from the others hence important to regulating radiation therapy during treatment besides guiding a diagnosis (Anand et al., 2009).
In the field of psychiatry, PET scans have been crucial in the diagnosis of dementia, epilepsy and movement disorders, most of which are metabolically influenced. For example, in Alzheimer’s disease, FDG/PET scans show hypometabolism in the parietal-temporal cortices and helps the physician reach a diagnosis even earlier than when using an MRI (Anand et al., 2009).
Nuclear medicine therapy using radiopharmaceuticals
Largely, radiopharmaceuticals have been widely used in radiation therapy for cancers. For example, Iodine-131 has found much use in treating thyroid cancer and other benign thyroid disorders. In the treatment of leukaemia, the defective bone marrows are first killed by radiations before a bone marrow transplant is done (World Nuclear Association, 2020). Therefore, radiopharmaceuticals are of importance in nuclear medicine therapy for many diseases.
References
World Nuclear Association. (2020). Radioisotopes in Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/non-power-nuclear-applications/radioisotopes-research/radioisotopes-in-medicine.aspx#:~:text=A%20radioisotope%20used%20for%20diagnosis,of%20all%20nuclear%20medicine%20procedures.
John Hopkins Medicine. (2020). Nuclear Medicine. Retrieved from https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/treatment-tests-and-therapies/nuclear-medicine
Parvaresh, R., Haghparast, A., Khoshgard, K., Jalili, M., Eivazi, M.T. & Ghorbani, M. (2018). An investigation to determine an optimum protective garment material in nuclear medicine. Journal of Biomedical Physics and Engineering, 8(4). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6280121/
CDC. (2014). Nuclear Medicine Procedures. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/radiation/nuclear_medicine.htm
Anand, S. S., Singh, H. & Dash, A. K. (2009). Clinical Applications of PET and PET-CT. Medical Journal Armed Forces India, 65(4). Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4921358/