Nuclear Medicine

Location:

1 Central

Hours:

7 a.m.- 5:00 p.m., Monday - Friday; 7 a.m.-11 a.m., Saturday

Emergency Services:

Evenings and Sunday

Information:

• Scheduling: 410-427-5500
• Department: 410-337-1465 (outpatient) or 410-337-1419 (inpatient)

Nuclear medicine specialists use safe, painless, and cost-effective techniques to image the body and treat disease. Nuclear medicine imaging is unique, because it provides doctors with information about both structure and function. It is a way to gather medical information that would otherwise be unavailable, require surgery, or necessitate more expensive diagnostic tests. Nuclear medicine imaging procedures often identify abnormalities very early in the progress of a disease long before many medical problems are apparent with other diagnostic tests.

Nuclear medicine uses very small amounts of radioactive materials (radiopharmaceuticals) to diagnose and treat disease. In imaging, the radiopharmaceuticals are detected by special types of cameras that work with computers to provide very precise pictures about the area of the body being imaged. In treatment, the radiopharmaceuticals go directly to the organ being treated. The amount of radiation in a typical nuclear imaging procedure is comparable with that received during a diagnostic x-ray, and the amount received in a typical treatment procedure is kept within safe limits.

Today, nuclear medicine offers procedures that are essential in many medical specialties, from pediatrics to cardiology to oncology. New and innovative nuclear medicine treatments that target and pinpoint molecular levels within the body are revolutionizing our understanding of and approach to a range of diseases and conditions.

The Division of Nuclear Medicine accepts written orders for procedures and is a full service department that performs all types of nuclear medicine imaging exams on both inpatients and outpatients.