Nuclear medicine is a radiology specialty that involves creating images of the body using very small amounts of radioactive materials. This state-of-the-art technology gives physicians a picture of the body’s function for better diagnosis and treatment.
Ohio State’s nuclear medicine specialists use a variety of techniques including:
- Positron emission tomography (PET)
- Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) with or without computed tomography (SPECT/CT)
- Positron emission tomography combined with computed tomography (PET-CT)
- Planar imaging techniques
- Single-phase and multi-phase studies
These procedures can help detect problems associated with almost every system in the body, aiding in evaluation of a variety of conditions, including, but not limited to, kidney obstruction, dementia, cancer, delayed gastric emptying, etc.
Additionally, Ohio State’s nuclear medicine physicians also have the ability to treat specific conditions with targeted radiotherapy, including certain types of cancer and non-cancerous thyroid conditions. Ohio State currently is in the top institutions in the country in terms of number of patients treated with targeted radiotherapy for neuroendocrine malignancies.
The nuclear medicine division is composed of faculty members who are experienced in the broad range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures involving radiopharmaceuticals, as well as being actively engaged in research and education of the next generation of physicians and technologists.