Leading-Edge Care
Nuclear Medicine is a branch of medical imaging that uses tiny amounts of radioactive materials to diagnosis and treat a variety of diseases, including some types of cancers, heart disease, gastrointestinal, endocrine and neurological disorders.
The Division provides most of the diagnostic studies currently used in the field and routinely performs imaging related to the following conditions or organs:
- Brain
- Cerebrospinal fluid
- Lungs (ventilation and perfusion)
- Thyroid
- Parathyroid
- Liver
- Biliary system
- Kidneys
- Gastrointestinal system
- Testicular torsion
- Infection
- Patency of CSF shunts
- Levine shunts
- Lymphatic system
- Adrenal glands
Additional tests and therapies performed as part of the Nuclear Medicine Division include:
- Gastrointestinal function testing for gastroesophageal reflux, gastric emptying of both solid and liquid meals, esophageal transit time, and gallbladder ejection fraction
- Thyroid uptake
- Global renal function evaluation, including glomerular filtration rate
- Iodine-131 therapy for hyperthyroidism and thyroid carcinoma
Cardiac Studies
Our Comprehensive Cardiac Program performs all types of cardiac studies, including quantitative thallium scans and gated blood pool scans to determine cardiac ejection fraction and wall motion. The Division has had extensive experience using Persantine, along with thallium imaging, for detecting coronary artery disease.
Precision Medicine: Guided Cancer Therapy
Precision medicine is an emerging form of disease diagnosis and prevention that uncovers genetic mutations within a patient’s own cancer that can allow for a more targeted, customized treatment. The use of Precision Medicine has the potential to spare some individuals the costs and side effects of other therapies from which they would not benefit, based on their unique, genetic makeup.
The Nuclear Medicine and Clinical Molecular Imaging Division plays a critical role in delivering Precision Medicine through:
- The ability to measure cancer metabolism
- Imaging of glutamine and glutamine metabolism
- Imaging proliferation rate of cancer
- The ability to image estrogen receptors in breast cancer patients
The applications of Precision Medicine continue to grow and research developments within clinical molecular imaging continue to play a role in broadening this targeted medicine to benefit of other diseases such as metabolic disorders and neurologic diseases.
In This Section
Find out how advanced spectroscopy (SPECT) imaging helps our radiologists provide the highest level of care.
Positron emission tomography/computed tomography is used in evaluating early onset of cardiac disorders and cancer.
The Penn Nuclear Medicine and Clinical Molecular Imaging team works together to offer you the best possible options for your radiological care.
Download and complete forms in advance of your nuclear medicine and clinical molecular imaging appointment with Penn Radiology.