Nuclear medicine
Nuclear medicine uses ionising radiation to provide information on organ or tissue functions. This information often enables physicians to diagnose many diseases accurately and rapidly.
The Paideia International Hospital unit in Rome performs all major scintigraphic tests in the areas of oncology, cardiology, orthopaedics, endocrinology, neurology, gastroenterology and pneumology.
Digital PET/CT scans, unlike the more widely used analog PET scans, study tumours using high-quality images and reduced doses of radio-pharmaceuticals.
Nuclear medicine, the main diseases covered:
- Some neuroendocrine tumours
- Alzheimer's
- Carcinoma of the breast
- Carcinoma of the colon
- Carcinoma of the prostate
- Carcinoma of the lung
- Complications of joint replacement
- Pain from bone metastases
- Focal epilepsies
- Hyperparathyroidism
- Hyperthyroidism
- Lymphomas
- Coronary diseases
- Cutaneous melanoma
- Thyroid nodules
- Neurological diseases
- Liver cancers
- Differentiated thyroid cancers
- Adrenal cancers
The most commonly used procedures in Paideia’s nuclear medicine unit
PET/CT
The DISCOVERY MI PET-CT is a digital PET/CT scan that studies tumours using high-quality images and reduced doses of radio-pharmaceuticals.
Most commonly used procedures with PET/CT:
- Total body
- Cerebral
- Cardiac
The DISCOVERY MI PET-CT system features:
- A digital PET module (digital detector that improves image quality by highlighting details and outlines of lesions)
- An 128-layer CT module
- Acquisition of 15 cm of anatomy in 1 minute
- Advanced image reconstruction systems including Q. CLEAR (iterative algorithm that improves image quality) and Q. FREEZE (motion artefact removal system)
The DISCOVERY MI PET/CT is a combined tool for second-stage examinations that uses the CT scan X-ray emissions to analyse tissue morphology and the PET scan activity to analyse tissue metabolism, thus locating and staging the primary tumour and .
The PET/CT scan uses a digital detector that offers very high sensitivity and excellent spatial resolution, i.e. high-quality images even for very small lesions. This technology reduces both examination times and the dose of radio pharmaceuticals required.
The DISCOVERY MI uses Q. CLEAR for enhanced images via an algorithm with 25 interactions that acts on the increase in signal-to-noise ratio and Q. FREEZE, which eliminates the patient motion artifacts from respiratory motion and heartbeat.
PSMA-PET/CT
Advanced prostate cancer diagnostics can now rely on a new tool: PET-CT with PSMA.
This innovative method allows for non-invasive detection of prostate neoplasms and possible metastases even in cases with low PSA levels. It is indicated for pre-treatment staging of prostate cancer and for detecting disease recurrence in patients previously treated, exhibiting a new rise in PSA levels in the blood.
The procedure involves intravenous administration of slightly radioactive PSMA drug, which is not perceptible, followed by the acquisition of PET diagnostic images after an appropriate period of absorption.
The image scanning takes only a few minutes; afterward, the patient can resume normal activities, observing simple radioprotection precautions.
Gamma camera
The Gamma Camera (SPECT) NM 830 is a machine used in nuclear medicine to capture scintigraphic images for visualising the distribution in the body of radioactivity from drugs injected into the patient.
Most commonly used procedures with the gamma camera:
- Resting multigated acquisition (MUGA) scan
- Resting and pacing gated-SPECT myocardial perfusion (ergot pharmacology)
- Check for ectopic gastric mucosa
- Bone scintigraphy
- Bone marrow scintigraphy
- Salivary gland scintigraphy
- Parathyroid scintigraphy
- Segmental lymphatic and lymph glandular scintigraphy
- Myocardial scintigraphy of cardiac amyloidosis
- Bone scintigraphy or polyphasic segmental bone scintigraphy
- Total body bone scintigraphy
- Lung perfusion scan
- Receptor scintigraphy with [123I] cardiac MIBG
- Receptor scintigraphy with [123I] total-body MIBG
- Renal cortical scintigraphy
- Renal sequential scintigraphy
- Thyroid scintigraphy
- Total-body scintigraphy with [131I] Na
- Brain SPECT with [123I] ioflupane (DatScan)
- Study of oesophageal transit
- Gastrointestinal examinations (blood losses)
The NM 830 Gamma Camera features:
- Continuous step-and-shoot acquisition (Swiftscan system), which reduces examination time by an additional 25%
- A high-sensitivity, low-energy collimator (LEHRS)
- A dual head Gamma Camera enabling 180° rotation to cover 360° movements
- A CT module adjacent to the gantry
- The option of performing examinations with Gallium
The Gamma camera is used in oncology, sports, cardiac; bone, renal and thyroid scintigraphy. For doctors, the system is equipped with the SmartConsole, a tool that allows scans to be viewed remotely. You can change the processing settings and start the clinical processing at any time. For example, doctors can view a full-body bone scan directly on their device and define the required scan interval limits from wherever they happen to be. This transition to digital workflow allows examinations to be completed more quickly.
