What is Nuclear Medicine?

PEC scanner.
PEC scanner.

Nuclear medicine is a unique part of radiology in which it generates images primarily based on physiology and function, therefore images are usually low resolution and have poor anatomic detail.

  • Anatomical detail is limited because only the parts of the body that absorb or metabolize the radioisotope will show up in the image.
  • Images produced are highly dependent on which radioisotope is used.

Other imaging modalities in radiology focus on anatomy and structure.

  • Physiologic function not seen, because these images are based off of relative densities and show you a snapshot of the anatomy.