Nuclear medicine imaging studies

Hal s greatest contribution was to replace the rectilinear scanners with the scintillation camera (Fig. 7.5.) invented in 1957, and perfected in the 1960s and 1970s. The invention of the Anger camera led to the birth of nuclear cardiology, which accounts for more than half of all nuclear medicine imaging studies in the US today. 

Among the most recent advances in the fusion of nuclear medicine images with computed tomography (SPECT/CT) and computed tomography angiography (SPECT/ CTA) in basic science studies in small animals, SPECT/CT was the topic of 11 instrumentation presentations, while PET/CT in small animals accounted for 5 presentations. 

Nuclear medicine is the specific focus of radiology that uses minute amounts of radioactive materials, or radiopharmaceuticals, to study organ function and structure. Nuclear medicine imaging is a combination of many different sciences, including chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer technology, and medicine. 

Before complexes can be used in nuclear medicine, especially for brain function studies, in vivo reactivity has to be imposed upon them. Retention in the brain is necessary for perfusion imaging. This can be achieved by substituents on the ligand that bind them to binding sites in the brain. N-alkylation with methyl and other alkyl groups led to the class of complexes shown in Fig. 19. Upon complexation to technetium, the IV-alkyl substituent can assume a syn or anti configuration with respect to the oxo ligand, as proved by X-ray crystal... 

The utilization of radioisotopes in the field of nuclear medicine has been promoted for various purposes. Among them, diagnostic applications have had much success during the past two decades. Technetium-99m, thallium-210 and iodine-123, for example, have been used as radioisotopes for imaging studies. 

Radiophannaceuticals are almost ideal diagnostic tools because radioisotope tracers do not alter body physiology, and they permit external monitoring with minimal instrumentation. Presently, there are three major areas of nuclear medicine (1) physiological function studies, (2) radionuclide imaging procedures, and (3) therapeutic techniques. 

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