Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear medicine is both diagnostic and therapeutic. Procedures using different types of radioactive medicine detect cancer and neurological disorders as well as conditions that affect the bones and internal organs like the heart, kidneys and lungs.

At University of Maryland Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, doctors provide services to outpatients and inpatients. To make a nuclear medicine imaging appointment, call 410-328-3225.

Nuclear Imaging

Nuclear imaging uses radioactive materials called radiotracers. Depending on the test, you will swallow, inhale or have the tracer injected into your bloodstream. Scans are noninvasive and usually painless.

A gamma camera detects gamma rays from the tracer and converts them into an image. Nuclear medicine imaging provides functional detail that is not usually available from other imaging procedures. This allows doctors to locate and diagnose conditions in their early stages. For example, some tumors absorb more radiotracer than healthy tissue does. This makes the tumor appear as a hotspot, showing its precise location and size.

Instead of physical shapes, nuclear scans show body functions like metabolism, blood flow and stomach emptying. We can also combine nuclear scans with other types of imaging such as CT and MRI. This combination image provides more precise information for accurate diagnoses.

We use diagnostic nuclear medicine imaging to find and evaluate conditions including:

• Bone fractures and tumors
• Cancer – screening and staging
• Coronary artery disease, stenosis and ejection fraction
• Early-onset Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease
• Hyperthyroidism and blood cell disorders
• Traumatic injuries
• Lung function and respiratory conditions
• Kidney function including high blood pressure in kidney arteries
• Transplant rejection
• Coronary artery disease
• Myocardial ischemia

Nuclear Medicine Treatments

Nuclear medicine therapies offer minimally invasive, effective treatments for cancers and other conditions. At University of Maryland Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine, we offer therapeutic procedures for:

• Adrenal gland tumors
• Hyperthyroidism, or Graves’ disease
• Thyroid cancer
• Bone pain from metastatic cancer
• Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
• Neuroendocrine tumors