Nuclear Medicine
The section of nuclear medicine/molecular imaging is a division of Diagnostic Radiology at Lehigh Valley Health Network and is a recognized leader in diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine procedures. Our board certified physicians and technologists use state of the art equipment and techniques to give patients and referring physicians personalized quality care. We are accredited by the American College of Radiology which is the highest accreditation body for diagnostic imaging services. We also participate in the training of medical students from the University of South Florida and residents from Lehigh valley Health Network.
Nuclear medicine/molecular imaging is the medical profession that utilizes intravenous or oral administration of radiopharmaceuticals as well as scintillation cameras and computers to image and quantify various physiologic processes throughout the body and to treat certain disorders. We can now combine the functional capabilities of a nuclear medicine procedure with the anatomic localization of CT scans to precisely localize functional abnormalities in the body with both PET/CT and SPECT/CT studies.
Our molecular imaging specialists are involved in the following diagnostic studies:
- FDG PET/CT scan: used in the diagnosis, staging, restaging and monitoring of therapy in a variety of cancers and in the characterization of various neurodegenerative disease in the brain
- Gallium Dotatate (Netspot) PET/CT scans: used in evaluating neuroendocrine tumors
- Axumin PET/CT scans: used in evaluating prostate cancer
- Bone scan used to identify repair in the presence of injury, infection or tumor
- Myocardial perfusion images determine the adequacy of blood flow to the heart in a noninvasive fashion
- DaT brain imaging to diagnosis Parkinson syndrome
- Infection imaging using labeled white blood cells to find occult infection in the body
- Biliary imaging to diagnose a variety of liver and gallbladder diseases
- Thyroid imaging to evaluate benign thyroid disorders and thyroid cancer
- Renal scans to evaluate kidney function
- Gastrointestinal imaging to evaluate gastrointestinal bleeding and gastric emptying
- Lung scans to rule out pulmonary emboli
- Pediatric imaging for a variety of disorders
Our Nuclear Medicine Physicians are also involved in the treatment of hyperthyroidism, thyroid cancer, and in the palliation of bone pain due to metastatic prostatic cancer. We work closely with our colleagues in medical and radiation oncology when patients participate in clinical trials in conjunction with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.