A modern nuclear medicine department in a hospital provides both diagnostic and therapeutic services that help doctors understand how organs and tumours function at a cellular level. Strong nuclear medicine capability supports accurate diagnosis, cancer staging, treatment planning, and follow-up across multiple medical specialties.

Diagnostic Nuclear Medicine Scans

Diagnostic imaging forms the core of most nuclear medicine services. These scans use safe, low-dose radiotracers to highlight abnormal activity in organs and tissues.

Common diagnostic nuclear medicine scans include:

PET/CT scans: PET/CT is one of the most widely used tests in oncology. It helps detect cancer spread, determine disease stage, assess treatment response, and identify recurrence by showing metabolic activity rather than just anatomy.

SPECT/CT scans: SPECT/CT provides three-dimensional functional imaging and is commonly used for bone disorders, cardiac assessment, and organ-specific evaluation. The CT component helps precisely locate areas of abnormal tracer uptake.

Thyroid scans: Thyroid nuclear scans are used to evaluate thyroid nodules, hyperthyroidism, thyroid inflammation, and long-term follow-up of thyroid cancer.

Bone scans: Bone scans help detect bone metastases, fractures, infections, and unexplained bone pain by identifying areas of increased bone turnover.

Renal scans: Renal nuclear medicine studies assess kidney function, blood flow, drainage, and obstruction, especially useful in children and patients with known kidney disease.

Cardiac perfusion scans: These scans evaluate blood flow to the heart muscle and help diagnose coronary artery disease, assess viability, and guide cardiac treatment planning (where available).

Therapeutic Nuclear Medicine

In addition to imaging, some hospitals with advanced nuclear medicine capability offer nuclear medicine therapy, also known as targeted radionuclide therapy or theranostics.

In these treatments, radioactive medicines are designed to:

Travel through the bloodstream.
Bind specifically to disease-related cells.
Deliver radiation directly to the target while minimising damage to healthy tissue.

Key points about therapeutic nuclear medicine:

Used in selected cancers and endocrine disorders.
Often given in planned cycles rather than a single session.
Requires close monitoring with blood tests and follow-up imaging.
Forms part of a broader cancer care plan alongside surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy.

Nuclear Medicine Department: Tests, Therapies & Safety Guide