What would our healthcare systems be without – X-rays! According to health experts, radiation is a technique commonly utilized in nuclear medicine and radiology. And in nuclear medicine, radioactive elements called radioisotopes are introduced into the body, while in radiology X-rays enter the body from outside. Read on to learn more about the uses of Gold Coast nuclear medicine.
The Use of Nuclear Medicine in Patient Diagnosis
According to data from the Center for Nuclear Science and Technology Information, around 1/3 of all procedures in most modern hospitals involve radiation, and the procedures commonly offered are considered safe, painless and effective (And require no anesthesia).
Gold Coast nuclear medicine is utilized in patient diagnosis to ascertain and evaluate a wide assortment of medical issues or ailments. Here, patients inhale, swallow or get injected with what's called a "radiopharmaceutical, and after taking the substance the patients lie down on a table while a camera takes photos.
The camera focuses on the area where the radioactive material is concentrated, which will show the doctor what type of problem or issue there is, and where it's located. The common types of imaging techniques range from PET, or Position Emission Tomography and SPECT or Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography.
These procedures are very helpful in diagnosing heart conditions, cancer, gall bladder disease and thyroid disease. While diagnosing internal conditions in the past often required surgery, Gold Coast nuclear medicine now makes this unnecessary.
Other types of imaging which involve nuclear medicine include targeted molecular ultrasound, which helps detect certain types of cancer, and magnetic resonance sonography, which diagnoses cancer and metabolic disorders.
The Use of Nuclear Medicine in Treating Patients
Gold Coast nuclear medicine is also utilized in treating patients, where the radiopharmaceutical is either injected, swallowed or inhaled. An example of this would be radioactive iodine, which has already been used over 50 years to treat hyperthyroidism and thyroid cancer. Today, it's also utilized to treat bone pain from certain cancers and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Iodine-131 targeted radionuclide therapy or TRT is a method which involves the introduction of radioactive iodine into the body, and as the cancer cells or thyroid cells absorb the material, it eventually kills them. Iodine-131 is given in liquid form or in capsules.
In the near future, health experts stress that it may already be possible to embed Gold Coast nuclear medicine into medication imaging agents which will not only attach to cancer cells. Through this, the procedure would eliminate only the target cells, and not the otherwise healthy or normal tissues or cells.
This procedure also helps reduce many of the more adverse effects of chemotherapy, and eventually save the lives of more patients. AI, or artificial intelligence, will also play a greater role in the future of radiology, which will help clinicians enhance efficiency and diagnostic capacity (As well as give radiologists more time for research and direct patient care).
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