Nuclear medicine uses 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.  It is a great way to gather medical information that would otherwise be unavailable, require surgery or necessitate more expensive diagnostic tests.
 
During your nuclear medicine test, a small amount of radiopharmaceuticals will be introduced into your body by injection, swallowing or inhalation.  The radiopharmaceuticals are attracted to specific organs, bones or tissues.  The amount of radiopharmaceuticals used for your exam will be carefully determined to provide the least amount of radiation exposure and to ensure an accurate test.
 
A Nuclear Medicine Technologist will then use a special type of camera (gamma camera), that works with a computer, to detect the radiopharmaceuticals which provide very precise pictures about the area of your body being studied. 
 
Nuclear medicine is different from an X-ray, ultrasound, or other diagnostic test because it determines the presence of disease based on biological changes rather than changes in anatomy.