Rochester General Hospital
Nuclear Medicine
Nuclear medicine is a specialized area of radiology that uses very small amounts of radioactive materials, or radiopharmaceuticals, to examine organ function and structure. Nuclear medicine imaging is a combination of many different disciplines, including chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer technology, and medicine. This branch of radiology is often used to help diagnose and treat abnormalities very early in the progression of a disease, such as thyroid cancer.
Since x-rays pass through soft tissue, such as intestines, muscles, and blood vessels, contrast agents are used in nuclear imaging. Nuclear imaging examines organ function and structure, whereas diagnostic radiology is based on anatomy.
Some diagnostic information can be more easily acquired by using radioactive compounds, sometimes called "isotopes" to diagnose your medical problems. These radioactive compounds circulate throughout your body and attach to or are altered by certain tissues by the body's complex physiologic and chemical mechanisms. By observing how and where the radioactive compounds go, the nuclear medicine physician is able to gain unique and valuable information about changes in your body's biological processes as well as alterations in your anatomy.
To make an appointment, please call; (585) 922-2160
Physicians only may check on results by calling: (585) 922-3233
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU COME IN
When you come in you will be injected with a small amount of radioactive materials (isotopes or radioisotopes or radiopharmaceuticals), usually into a vein. Depending on the type of test, you will have to wait between 15 minutes to 4 hours (occasionally longer) for the materials to move through and interact with your body. During this time you are generally free to do what you want although depending on the test you may be asked not to eat. You will probably be asked to drinks plenty of fluids as this helps move the materials through your body. When the actual scans are taken you will be asked to lie still on a table. The camera will be positioned over you and a series of scans will be taken. each scan takes a few minutes, so the whole procedure may last from 15 minutes to 1 hour; again this may vary with the actual test being done. Feel free to ask us before you come in how long YOUR procedure will take or with any other questions! Basically, that's it! In a few days the nuclear medicine physician will discuss the results with your doctor. Then your physician will explain the results to you.
