Medical
Specialties
Nuclear
Medicine Service
Also
under the Department of Radiology is the Nuclear Medicine
Service. This unit uses small amounts of radioactive materials
(radiopharmaceuticals or tracers) to help doctors diagnose
and treat a variety of diseases.
Unlike
an x-ray, which provides information on the presence of
disease based on structural appearance, nuclear medicine
determines the cause of the medical problem based on the
function of the organ, tissue or bone. In a nuclear medicine
test, the radioactive material is introduced into the body
by injection, swallowing, or inhalation. Different tracers
are used to study different parts of the body. The amount
of radioactive material used is carefully selected to provide
the least amount of radiation exposure to the patient while
ensuring an accurate examination. In treating diseases,
the radiopharmaceuticals destroy diseased tissues.
The
Nuclear Medicine Service offers a wide range of procedures.
Scans of the thyroid, heart, lungs, GI tract, kidneys, and
bones are common. Other tests such as localization of infection
or tumors and serum measurements (radioimmunoassay) of thyroid
function are also performed. The images from the abovementioned
scans provide physiologic information other imaging modalities
cannot give.
• Thyroid Scan and Uptake
•
Myocardial Perfusion Imaging (Nuclear Cardiac Stress Test)
• Ventilation/Perfusion Lung Scan
• Gastrointestinal Bleeding Scan
• Hepatobiliary (HIDA) Scan
• GFR/Renal Scan
• Bone Scan Leukocyte Scan (99mTc-HMPAO-labelled white
blood cells)
• Gallium Scan
The
Radiology Service is located at the Upper Ground Floor of
the hospital. For inquiries, call
(63 2) 771-9000 to 02 ext. 8159 / 8122 / 8110 (Radiology)
or ext. 8131 / 8141 (Nuclear Medicine).
To
find a specific doctor at our hospital, visit the Find-A-Doctor
search engine or contact us directly by filling in our Online
Inquiry Form.
