What is Nuclear Medicine?

Nuclear medicine uses radioactivity to diagnose or treat a wide range of diseases. It can help to identify the presence and extent of disease and/or show how certain organs are functioning. It can also be used to treat some diseases.

Nuclear Medicine scans provide information on various organs, including the heart, brain, bones, lungs, thyroid, kidneys, blood system, stomach and bowel. Usually information is obtained about how the organs are functioning, helping your doctor decide on the best treatment. In total, there are over 20 different scans performed within the department with each having different timescales and requirements.

Do I need to prepare?

If you are pregnant, or think you may be pregnant, please tell us before your scan. Even small amounts of radiation can harm unborn babies.

Please note: we must ask all female patients aged 12-55 (inclusive) about the possibility of pregnancy to comply with ionising radiation regulations (IR(ME)R 2017).

You can have most scans if you are breastfeeding, but please contact us for advice before you come in for your test. In some cases you may need to stop breast feeding for a certain period of time. For a small number of procedures, you may need to stop breastfeeding completely.

For some nuclear medicine procedures, you may need to follow some simple preparation in advance or stop certain medications. This will be detailed in your appointment letter if necessary – it is important to follow these instructions to ensure the test will go ahead, and to get accurate scan results. However, the majority of scans do not require any special preparation.

To make the injection easier, please drink plenty of fluids before arrival as it makes veins easier to find.

Whilst diagnostic Nuclear Medicine is provided at Castle Hill and Hull Royal Infirmary, Nuclear Medicine therapy is provided only on the Castle Hill site either on an out-patient basis or in the purpose-built therapy suite on Ward 31 of the Queen’s Centre for Oncology and Haematology.

What happens during an imaging procedure?

Firstly, a small amount of the radioactive substance is injected into a vein, usually in your arm or hand. Some tests require swallowing or inhaling (breathing in) the radioactive tracer instead of an injection, this will be stated in your letter. You may then be scanned straightaway or be asked to wait for a few hours before we can take the pictures. This is to allow the body time to transport the radioactive substance to the target area and will depend on the type of scan.

During the scan you have to remain still on a bed while a gamma camera takes pictures of the tracer in your body. The camera will be quite close to you at the area of interest so it can take good-quality pictures. More information on the scanner can be found here.

What happens during a non-imaging procedure?

The most common procedure is a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) test, which is done to see how well the kidneys are functioning. A small amount of radioactive substance is given as an injection, with blood samples being collected in the following hours. The amount of radiation in these blood samples are measured. These results are put into a graph to determine if the kidneys are functioning within normal limits.

We perform breast sentinel lymph node injections for patients undergoing sentinel lymph node biopsy. This procedure consists of an injection into the breast which will help the surgeon locate the sentinel lymph node(s).  This is performed either the day before or the day of your surgery.  There are no side effects to this injection however you may feel a stinging sensation which should disappear soon after.

What happens during a therapy procedure?

Larger amounts of radiopharmaceuticals are given to you and are designed to go to the diseased areas in the body. The radiopharmaceuticals used are different from those used for imaging procedures as the radiation kills the diseased tissue. The therapy doses usually come in small capsules which you swallow. One of our therapies is given through an injection in the arm.

For some therapies a short stay in hospital is required. However, most of our therapies are done on an outpatient basis.