NUCLEAR MEDICINE: A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

Nuclear medicine is a branch of medicine that evaluates body functioning and diagnosis and treats the disease by using radiopharmaceuticals or radio tracers. 131-iodine was the first commercially used nuclear medicine for the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disease. Nuclear medicine emits alpha, beta (ß- and ß+) and gamma rays, which are used for the diagnosis and treatment. Nuclear imaging studies can provide early and accurate diagnosis of cancer, many infections like diabetic foot osteomyelitis, vertebral osteomyelitis, endovascular graft infection, prosthetic joint infection and also for fever of unknown origin. PET and SPECT are techniques used for the diagnosis. Now a days hybrid technology PET/CT and SPECT/CT are used for the diagnosis. Different PET agents like Fluorine 18, Gallium 68, Carbon 11, Oxygen-15, Zirconium-89, Copper-64, Iodine-124 etc., are use for the diagnosis. SPECT agents like Technetium-99m, Thallium-201, Iodine-123 etc., are used for the diagnosis of the disease. Nuclear medicine used for the imaging of brain, myocardial perfusion, thyroid, parkinson’s disease, alzheimer’s disease, fever of unknown region, endovascular graft infection, etc. Alpha, beta minus and auger electron radiation used for the treatment of different disease. Nuclear medicine like Iodine-131 & 123, Strontium-89, Yttrium-90, Actinium-225, Phosphurus-32 & 33, Lutetium-177 etc., are used for therapeutic purpose. It is used in the treatment of thyroid cancer, prostate cancer, etc., with this paper precautions and dose, diagnosis and treatment can be very useful.