Nuclear medicine plays a vital role in the field of imaging for diagnosis. This speciality within diagnostic imaging can detect and diagnose numerous pathologies, treat them, and carry out a complete follow-up to check their evolution at all times.
Nuclear medicine, diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine.
Nuclear medicine plays a highly relevant role in the field of diagnostic imaging. This speciality within diagnostic imaging can detect and diagnose numerous pathologies, treat them, and carry out a complete follow-up to check their evolution at all times.
INTRODUCTION
Nuclear medicine is a branch of medicine that uses medical images to diagnose an infinite number of pathologies that can affect the human body early. In other words, it guarantees that the patient can be treated in time and respond much better and more quickly to the treatment to which he is subjected.
Likewise, it not only diagnoses pathologies but is also an essential technique in treatment since it allows the evolution of any disease to be effectively monitored and checks whether the treatment is working correctly. Despite using small amounts of radioactive material, it is not an invasive technique or one that causes adverse effects.
OBJECTIVE
The main objective of this topic is to shed light on the importance of nuclear medicine in the field of imaging for diagnosis, as well as to clarify in detail what this revolutionary medical speciality is for in the health environment.
METHODOLOGY
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DEVELOPING
Within the field of medical imaging, nuclear medicine is a speciality that is responsible for diagnosing, treating and investigating a multitude of diseases with the help of what are known as radioisotopes (radioactive isotopes), as well as nuclear radiation, among other types of techniques.
Nuclear medicine uses non-invasive imaging procedures but requires intravenous injections, unlike other diagnostic imaging techniques. Cameras specifically designed allow the nuclear medicine doctor to track the path followed by the radiotracers in the body.
It offers the advantage of detecting diseases early, allowing activity to be seen at the molecular level. Thanks to nuclear medicine, health professionals can visualise the structure and the functioning of tissues, organs, bones or any other body system.
Imaging procedures 1 in the field of nuclear medicine can be used to treat:
- Numerous types of cancer: prostate, breast, liver, lung, etc.
- Respiratory diseases: pneumonia, angina pectoris, Crohn’s disease, etc.
- Cardiac pathologies: blood clots, PAD (peripheral arterial disease), etc.
- Gastrointestinal diseases: Crohn’s disease, liver cirrhosis, etc.
- Neurological disorders: headaches, dementia, epilepsy, etc.
It should be noted that nuclear medicine focuses primarily on diagnosing disease, as well as being able to treat it properly. This technique is aided by imaging procedures if we focus on diagnosing diseases. In addition to all this, it should be mentioned that, as a general rule, computed tomography (CT) or nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is used to be able to have different points of view at hand. This practice is known as image fusion.
In this way, it is guaranteed to be able to make a more accessible and more effective diagnosis of the disease and its severity. The nuclear medicine doctor will be able to correlate and interpret the information from two different tests or images in the same idea. That is, they help to obtain more accurate and precise diagnoses.
If we focus on treatment, mention that in addition to being of great help to see how a patient’s disease is progressing and if the conventional treatment is having an effect, nuclear medicine is also capable of offering patients treatments of great interest.
A clear example of this is radioactive iodine therapy. This treatment is mainly indicated to be able to treat all those people who have cancer and those who suffer from pathologies that affect the thyroid gland. To all this, it must be added that it is a great ally to be able to treat all those patients affected by Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma since these patients do not respond adequately to chemotherapy treatment.
New radiotracers and technologies are currently being developed to help healthcare professionals obtain sharper images and more precise imaging. In other words, everything seems to indicate that the future of this speciality is promising and will be an essential tool in the imaging field for diagnosis.
The advances this technique is undergoing are such that a TCEFU 2 tracer has even come to light that guarantees an early diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease. Health professionals use small gamma cameras to scan the brain to provide higher resolution images.
CONCLUSION
In short, nuclear medicine is presented as a magnificent ally of health professionals who use the image for diagnosis and the treatment of the disease itself. New technological advances are currently allowing much clearer images to be obtained in nuclear medicine, making the work of doctors or health professionals easier.
