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Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear Medicine. A PowerPoint. What is Nuclear Medicine?. Uses trace amounts of radioactive elements to image certain organs in the body Elements can be introduced to the body through swallowing, inhalation, or injection

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Nuclear Medicine

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  1. Nuclear Medicine A PowerPoint

  2. What is Nuclear Medicine? Uses trace amounts of radioactive elements to image certain organs in the body Elements can be introduced to the body through swallowing, inhalation, or injection Radiopharmaceuticals (radioactive elements) are tracked through specialized cameras to give detailed images of the area of the body being treated

  3. What is Nuclear Medicine? (contd.) Nuclear medicine imaging can detect abnormalities long before they can be detected through CAT scans or MRI scans One of the safest imaging procedures available today Used commonly to detect, track, and treat cancer

  4. Elements Used • Common radioactive elements include: • - Iodine 131, for thyroid cancer treatment • - Boron 10, which concentrates in the tumor • - Carbon 14, for tracing • - Technetium 99, a synthetic element very widely used for tracing Most of the elements used for nuclear medicine have very short half lives, so they don’t stay in the body for too long

  5. BRIEF History Radioactive materials not used in patients until 1939, when Joseph Gilbert Hamilton first published a paper on the use of iodine 131 in patients The first positron radiopharmicutical not approved by the FDA until 1989 By 2001, 16.9 million nuclear medicine procedures were performed in the United States

  6. Is It Safe? Nuclear medicine is the safest way to scan Safer than CAT scans, MRIs, and X-rays Amount of radiation a patient is exposed to during a procedure equivalent to that of an X-ray scan Most common side effects of nuclear tracing are nausea and dizziness, while extreme cases include vomiting and severe cramps

  7. Is It Safe? (contd.) No deaths directly associated with nuclear medicine have been reported Relatively new technology; not many doctors are trained on how to react if something goes severely wrong Safe enough that children are the most common receivers of nuclear medicine

  8. Works Cited! http://interactive.snm.org/docs/whatisnucmed.pdf http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Non-Power-Nuclear-Applications/Radioisotopes/Radioisotopes-in-Medicine/

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