The amount of radiation in a nuclear medicine test is comparable to that received during a diagnostic x-ray exam. Only extremely small amounts of tracers are used which lose most of their radioactivity in hours or days and are quickly eliminated from the body.

Nuclear medicine is the medical specialty, which utilizes the nuclear properties of radioactive nuclides for diagnostic evaluation and / or physiological conditions of the body and provides therapy with unsealed radioactive sources.

Those individuals that have graduated from an 18-24 month accredited Allied Health Sciences program with current registration are eligible to apply for the nuclear medicine program. Another avenue for entry into the program is a minimum of 60 college credits preferably with an emphasis in science and a cumulative GPA of 2.75. Please review the pre-requisite requirements by clicking here.

A Nuclear Medicine scan is used to image a specific organ system in the human body by means of administering a small dose of radioactivity and looking at the physiology or function of the organ system of interest.

Nuclear medicine procedures are very safe. The pharmaceutical (tracer) used, and radiation dose given are carefully selected to ensure the minimum radiation exposure to the patient, while ensuring the accuracy of the test. The amount of radiation in a nuclear medicine test is about the same as you would receive from a diagnostic X-ray. The radiopharmaceuticals administered are not dyes and do not cause reactions the way X-ray contrasts do.

A Nuclear Medicine Technologist performs the nuclear medicine test. They are a specially trained health care professional who has direct experience in the theory and practice of nuclear medicine. The Nuclear Medicine Technologist duties include:

Nuclear medicine is a subspecialty within the field of radiology that uses very small amounts of radioactive material to diagnose or treat disease and other abnormalities within the body. Nuclear medicine imaging procedures are noninvasive and usually painless medical tests that help physicians diagnose medical conditions. These imaging scans use radioactive materials called a radiopharmaceutical or radiotracer.

Nuclear Medicine specialists use safe, painless, and cost-effective techniques to image the body and treat disease. Nuclear Medicine Imaging is unique, because it provides doctors with information about both structure and function. Nuclear Medicine is a specialty of Radiography, and complements Radiography with information about function of specific organs, whereas radiology looks at anatomy.

Many Nuclear Medicine departments are happy to have prospective students do an observation at their facility. It is recommended that you call up a hospital near you and ask to speak to the Nuclear Medicine department. You can then ask the Chief Technologist if they would mind a visit, and then schedule something in advance.

The ACR Nuclear Medicine Accreditation Program is a voluntary process. However, several third-party payers have recognized ACR Accreditation Programs as a method of demonstrating quality and require ACR accreditation for their providers of certain services.

Most nuclear medicine tests require an injection, a wait time, then a scan time. Expect to be in the Radiology Department for 2?3 hours for a nuclear medicine test.

Images can be captured either by a video capture (frame grabber) board which connects directly to the composite video signal of either the image processor or the console, or digitally by connecting directly from a modality to a workstation over a network (such as, ethernet). The least expensive method to acquire digital data is through a DICOM file transfer.

Nuclear Medicine scans are used to help assist your doctor in the proper diagnosis of diseases, tumors, infections, and other disorders by the evaluation of organ functions. These scans can show the sizes, shapes and positions of the organs. Unique to Nuclear Medicine scanning is that it will show the function of the organ as opposed to just a picture. Having this type of procedure done will help determine if the organ is functioning properly.

The program is designed to offer Nuclear Medicine physicians an opportunity for comprehensive review and evaluation of their Nuclear Medicine/PET facility, personnel qualifications, image quality, equipment, quality control procedures and quality assurance programs through a peer review mechanism.

If a mobile unit is owned and operated by a single entity, they must have their own supervising and interpreting physicians in order to be accredited as one facility. If a mobile unit is owned by a single entity and services multiple sites with different supervising and interpreting physicians, the unit must be accredited as separate facilities.