What do we do?
Nuclear Medicine is the medical specialty which conducts bodily examinations and treats certain diseases through the administration of a small amount of nuclear material.
The workings of various organs in the body can be visualised thanks to advanced equipment, such as Gamma and PET Cameras. The test results can help the commissioning physician draw up a diagnosis and determe the appropriate treatment. Each year we conduct about 11,000 diagnostic examinations of patients in all age categories who manifest different diseases. In addition, each year about 150 patients receive therapy with radioactive material, mostly during treatment of Thyroid Diseases with Radioactive Iodine.
Patients requiring a nuclear medical examination will be referred by a variety of specialists such as Internal Medicine, Endocrinology, Cardiology, Oncology, Orthopaedics, Paediatrics, or by their GP. The Nuclear Physician will not communicate the results of an exam directly to the patients. The Nuclear Physician will draw up a report for the doctor who commissioned the test, who in turn will inform the patient along with any other findings arising from the medical exam. The report is kept by the hospital and is added to the patient’s individual electronic medical file. Any other consulting physician may receive a copy by simple request.
The premises of the Nuclear Medicine Department have been designed and built to allow safe handling of radioactivity. The radioactive materials to be administered are prepared in the patient’s name in a specially configured Radiopharmacy. Besides the research wards which comprise imaging equipment, there are a number of separate rooms where patients will be prepared for their examination, including a ward which is equipped for Pharmacologic Stress Tests, a Treatment Ward for Paediatric patients, preparatory wards for PET exams and a ward for Ambulatory Metabolic Therapy.
From the hospital’s inception, the Department was equipped with the most advanced equipment for nuclear imaging and digital image processing. This equipment is regularly updated and replaced by technologically more effective devices. The Department currently has the use of four Multi-Head Gamma Cameras and a Single-Head Gamma Camera for Paediatric examinations. It is envisaged that a PET-CT machine will be added to the Positron Tomography Unit this year, alongside the existing dedicated PET Camera. All imaging communication, archiving and reporting is digitised. To this end, all devices are connected through a high-performance local computer network, which in turn is connected to the hospital’s electronic network.
A special Ionisation Ward has been set up in the Internal Medicine Nursing Ward for treatments using high doses of radioactive ions, where patients may reside during several days until their levels of radiation emissions have dropped to an acceptable level.
Nuclear Medicine is used within nearly all fields of medicine, among patients of all ages. Nuclear Medicine is frequently applied towards the timely identification of functional disorders in organs, prior to more general disorders manifesting themselves across a whole bodily function, or before changes to an organ’s anatomy become apparent. The Department maintains the necessary specialist knowledge, the facilities and the legal certifications to be able to provide virtually any diagnostic care and execute treatment. Moreover, the provision of specialist care to patients suffering from complex diseases and problems forms part of a university hospital’s core mission. The Department has an excellent reputation in Europe as a leading reference centre for Nuclear Cardiology. Equally, the administration of PET scans and of Radio Ion Therapy requiring an admission to hospital, represents a cutting-edge clinical activity which can only be handled by university centres and a few large medical facilities.
The radioactive materials which are used in Nuclear Medical Research usually only emit radiation for a short period of time, usually no longer than a day. This and the use of minute quantities, means that the radiation dose of diagnostic tests is limited both for patients and their surroundings. The radiation is about as high as the naturally occurring radiation all around us: in the soil, the air and also in ourselves and our food. Higher doses of radiation may be used to destroy tissues very selectively, such as in the treatment of a Thyroid Gland working too fast, or to lessen pain from cancers that have spread to the bones. In such cases, the patients themselves will become a source of radiation to their surroundings. Nevertheless, the risk of uncontrolled radiation and the propagation of radioactive materials can easily be limited through the timely observance of simple safety rules.
Even though the majority of nuclear examinations can be conducted on an ambulatory basis, the Nuclear Medicine Department will often treat seriously ill patients. It is the duty of the Department’s staff to also supervise or treat these patients with due care and efficiency. Each patient’s condition must be carefully monitored so that help can be provided rapidly should problems arise. This too forms part of our care for patients.