Advantages and Disadvantages of Nuclear Medicine

Advantages and Disadvantages of Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear medicine uses radioisotopes for treating diseases such as heart diseases, cancer, and neurological disorders. In the provision of diagnostic information, radioactive isotope emits gamma rays, and its sufficient energy displays an individual’s anatomy. In this regard, nuclear medicine procedures use Tc-99, a type of radioisotope in medicine that is efficient in imaging processes in a person’s body. Nuclear medicine procedure allows the visualization of tissue structures and organs that a standard x-ray cannot visualize. Therefore, for its examination, patients are given insignificant amounts of radioisotope either by injection or orally. The radioactive isotope will accumulate in a specific part of the body under study where the medical technician will position a camera and initiate a scanning process. The images viewed through the monitor are the results encountered during the process (“CDC – Nuclear Medicine Procedures,” n.d.). Additionally, safety concerns are also initiated, especially to pregnant women who have to consult their physicians before any preparations.

According to “17 Advantages and Disadvantages of Nuclear Medicine “(n.d.), undergoing nuclear medicine treatment has its advantages and limitations. The benefits involve the provision of anatomic and functional information, useful in determining cancer status. Imaging results leads to accurate results and early ailment detection. Concerning ailment detection, the precision of nuclear medicine has helped physicians to unravel difficult situations in early treatment stages. However, the limitations incorporate high operation costs, adverse effects on pregnant and breastfeeding women, constant severe allergic reactions, and health risks. Health risks, in this case, involves the amount of harmful radiation an individual is exposed to while administering nuclear medicine.

Radiopharmaceuticals are radioactive materials used in nuclear medicine procedures to treat certain diseases. The ailments that are typically diagnosed via these procedures include lymphomas, thyroid cancer, bone pain, and hyperthyroidism. The amount of radiopharmaceuticals depends on the diagnosed illness in an individual hence determining the amount administered in the human body. In light of Censullo and Vijayan (2017) findings, nuclear medicine procedures help in determining Vertebral Osteomyelitis, which is spinal infection with high-grade bacteremia and back pain in a patient. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is reliable in diagnosing this type of disease despite its features not being definitive. The essence of MRI not being absolute sometimes is because of the absence of pacemakers, such as leukocytosis that lead to the correct diagnosis.

Nuclear medicine procedures are also applicable to Diabetic Foot Osteomyelitis (DFO). According to Censullo and Vijayan (2017), technetium-99m-labeled bisphosphonates (99mTc) was used in treating and diagnosing DFO some years back. 99mTc was efficient in bone scanning, but today MRI has replaced 99mTc. Today, MRI is the first imaging test performed by most physicians in determining Diabetic Foot Osteomyelitis. The MRI in this prospect helps in establishing renal failure and metal implants during the whole procedure. Radiopharmaceutical intake in the body will also facilitate bone scans due to the rate of blood flow through the bones hence easy imaging when using MRI. Additionally, Endovascular graft infections cannot be managed medically, making individuals seek surgical intervention. Due to its morbidity in the human body, accurate diagnosis is essential; thus, the application of nuclear medicine procedure (Censullo &Vijayan, 2017). Notably, computed tomography (CT) is applied, whereby the specificity and sensitivity of the illness rare established within a percentage range.

Nuclear medicine’s next phase is radionuclide therapy, and radiopharmaceuticals are crucial during this stage. In light of Knapp and Dash’s (2016) findings, radionuclide therapy offers a broad clinical implementation of radioisotope production, radiopharmaceutical, and molecular biology. In this regard, small molecules of radiopharmaceutical are used in treating chronic diseases such as radiation synovectomy in inflammatory joints. Besides, the primary therapeutic use of radiopharmaceutical is also explored in liver cancer, whereby there is an integration of therapeutic radioisotope into the human body throughout the development stages of the illness (Knapp & Dash, 2016). Therefore, nuclear medicine therapy, through the use of radiopharmaceutical, targets the characteristics of a specific disease and designs strategies for the development process of the disease.