Physics of Nuclear Medicine - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering basic principles, key history, imaging modes, and clinical radiopharmaceuticals in nuclear medicine.

Radiopharmaceutical

A trace amount of a compound labeled with a radioactivity (radionuclide) that emits gamma rays or positrons, used to provide diagnostic information or therapy in the body.

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT)

A tomographic single photon imaging technique where data collected from many angles around a patient is reconstructed into cross-sectional images with depth information.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

A tomographic imaging technique using radionuclides that decay by positron emission; the emitted positron annihilates with an electron to simultaneously produce two high-energy photons detected by an imaging camera.

Planar Imaging

A nuclear imaging technique that captures a picture of radionuclide distribution in a patient from one particular angle, providing limited depth information.

Dosimetry

The careful measurement and modeling of radiation exposure used to establish safe radiation doses for human studies with new radiopharmaceuticals.

Cyclotron

An accelerator invented by Lawrence in the 1930s, used onsite or at regional radiopharmacies to produce short half-life positron-emitting radionuclides.

Gamma Camera

An external, position-sensitive camera used to detect emitted gamma rays or high-energy photons, first developed by Hal Anger in 1958.

Rectilinear Scanner

An early nuclear medicine scanner developed by Benedict Cassen in 1951.

$$^{18}\text{F}\text{-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)}$$

A metabolic PET radiopharmaceutical used to measure glucose metabolism, with widespread applications in oncology, cardiology, and neurology.

$$^{99m}\text{Tc}\text{-MDP}$$

A radiopharmaceutical used in planar imaging to measure bone metabolism and evaluate metastatic spread of cancer or osteomyelitis versus cellulitis.

$$^{99m}\text{Tc}\text{-sestamibi (Cardiolite)}$$

A radiopharmaceutical used in SPECT or planar imaging to evaluate myocardial perfusion in coronary artery disease.

$$^{99m}\text{Tc}\text{-HMPAO (Ceretec)}$$

A radiopharmaceutical used in SPECT imaging to measure cerebral blood flow in neurological disorders.

$$^{123}\text{I}\text{-sodium iodide}$$

A radiopharmaceutical used in planar imaging to measure thyroid function in thyroid disorders.

$$^{131}\text{I}\text{-sodium iodide}$$

A radiopharmaceutical used in planar imaging that is sequestered in tumors to diagnose or treat thyroid cancer.

$$^{67}\text{Ga}\text{-gallium citrate}$$

A radiopharmaceutical used in planar imaging that is sequestered in tumors for tumor localization.

$$^{111}\text{In}\text{-labeled white blood cells}$$

A radiopharmaceutical used in planar imaging to detect sites of infection and inflammation.

$$^{82}\text{Rb}\text{-rubidium chloride}$$

A PET radiopharmaceutical used to assess myocardial perfusion in coronary artery disease.

Multimodality Instrumentation

Combined imaging systems, such as integrated PET/CT and SPECT/CT scanners, that fuse functional nuclear imaging with anatomical CT imaging.