General Examinations

How to be carried out?

The function of different organs is investigated in Nuclear Medicine, the diseases or dysfunctions can be detected at a very early stage. This involves the use of a very small amount of a radioactive drug, which is usually injected through an arm vein. For certain examinations, the radioactive drug may be administered differently, e.g. as a capsule, injected under the skin or inhaled via a mask.

The substance with low-level radiation participates in various metabolic processes in the body or can accumulate in certain body organs. When the radioactive substance decays, Gamma-rays are emitted, which is recorded using special devices (Gamma camera, PET scanner) and processed into images.

Since the radiation is emitted from the examined patient and the devices themselves do not emit any radiation, additional images do not lead to increased radiation exposure to the patient. For a good image quality, it is necessary for the patient to lie still during the examination; otherwise the images will be blurred. This may be unpleasant, especially in the case of prolonged examinations. This is why we make every effort to ensure comfortable positioning for every patient.

Time schedule of an examination

Depending on the organ to be examined, images are taken at different times. Sometimes the first picture is taken immediately after the injection of the radioactive substance, while other examinations require a waiting time of several minutes to hours. For certain examinations, image acquisition on the following day is also necessary. Depending on the type of examination, blood may have to be tested several times. For some examinations fasting for solid food is required. Hypersensitivity reactions or allergies to the medication used are not to be expected, as only trace amounts of a radioactive substance are used.

Can you estimate the radiation exposure during a nuclear medical examination?

Radiation exposure in a nuclear medical examination is similar to that of a chest X-ray but lower than that of a CT examination. The administered radioactive substances have short half-lives and therefore decay very quickly in the body. A large portion is excreted through the kidneys in a short time. Permanent damage to the body is not to be expected.

However, a nuclear medical examination is only performed during pregnancy if it is absolutely necessary and if no other alternative procedure is available. Since radioactive substances can be released via breast milk, lactation has to be interrupted for a certain period of time following a nuclear medical examination on a nursing mother.

Are there nuclear medicine tests for children?

The advantage of nuclear medicine procedures is that they are not invasive, i.e. they are painless and do not cause discomfort, which is a big advantage when the examination is performed on children. Occasionally, as with a routine blood sampling, there may be a small bruise at the injection site. In children, the dosage of the radioactive drug is adjusted to their body weight. The radiation exposure during nuclear procedures is substantially lower compared to an X-ray examination for certain clinical questions (e.g. for the examinations of the urinary tract).