Role of Nuclear Medicine in the Field of Gastrointestinal Diseases - Essay Example

Role of Nuclear Medicine in the Field of Gastrointestinal Diseases Medicine is a broad Within its range of diversity is the field of Nuclear Medicine. This is actually under Radiology and is a very promising procedure in determining internal diseases. This diagnosis uses radiopharmaceutical substances to be able to have a nuclear medicine imaging of the organs checked. Example of body system checked by this method of healing is the gastrointestinal tract. Diseases like Ulceration colitis and Crohn's Disease are diagnosed by Nuclear Medicine. These two composes the prominent disease called IBD or Inflammatory Bowel disease. Through imaging the physician can advice the patients with such diseases the cure and treatment. With the help of Nuclear Medicine Imaging, the imaging of IBD may be performed with In-111Leukocytes and Tc-99m Leukocytes. Nuclear Imaging can assess the conditions and situation of the gastrointestinal tract of the patient. With detailed observation the physician can advice the patients on what medicine to take to cure the said disease. Literature Review Medicine is the science and art concerned with treating diseases so with preservation of one's health. It is a branch of healing art that deals with restoration of life and curing diseases by administration of drugs. Medicine is a very wide subject but it all includes all the sciences that are under the healing art and all varieties of curative treatment. Not only is it all about treating but also about preventive and the discussion of causation (Universal Encyclopedia, 1993). The development and classification of medical science have proceeded by gradual steps from very early times. The year 1543 marks an important point in the development of modern medicine. It was Andreas Versalius who published De Humani Corposis Fabrica (The Fabric of Human Body) in that year. It was a first great achievement for in that book the real structure of human body was revealed. Versalius undermined the widespread of reverence for authority in science and prepared a way for independent observation in anatomy and medicine. After that achievement there was a lot of upgrades in the field of medicine. The works and achievement of Pasteur in the field of Microbiology, Mendel in the field Genetics, and Darwin in Evolutionary Biology has greatly influenced and advanced the field of Medicine. As Medicine has been developing into more knowledge about the art of healing researches and more studies have been done. Among to its advancements are the discovery of tissue grafting. Transplants of organs are now possible and have saved many lives already. Born with the improvement in the field of Medicine is Nuclear Medicine. This field of Medicine is a science of healing that uses radiation to provide or give information about the person's anatomy and the functioning activity of the specific organs. With the information given to the physician, the doctor can provide and recommend proper diagnosis and treatment. Examples of conditions that can be checked with this field are cancer, heart diseases, thyroid disorders, bone disorders and gastrointestinal diseases (Nuclear Imaging, 2006). This field of Medicine is actually a sect specialty with in the field of radiology. The diagnostic examination that results from the images of body anatomy and functionality is comprised in this field. Nuclear medicine is a subspecialty within the field of radiology. The images are developed based on the detection of energy emitted from a radioactive substance given to the patient, either intravenously or by mouth. Generally, radiation to the patient is similar to that resulting from standard x-ray examinations (Nuclear Medicine, 2006). The substances used in this kind of practice are radio nuclides (radiopharmaceuticals). During examinations the radioactive substances are administered to the patience and the radiation emitted is then measured. Mostly of these examinations involves the formation of an image using a gamma camera. Nuclear medicine can give ways to check heart disease. Whether certain regions of the heart muscle lack an adequate supply of blood is shown in heart scans. Cardiologists will decide whether the patient needs angioplasty, bypass surgery, or change in lifestyle. Nuclear medicine scans can as well detect and stage many types of cancer. These scans can also show how well a patient reacts to treatment, such as surgery, chemotherapy, or radiation therapy. In some situations, nuclear medicine can be used to treat selected cancers. Nuclear medicine tests can show whether the gallbladder functions normally or whether a patient has gallbladder disease. These scans are also used after surgery to detect abnormal bile drainage from the liver (Converting Energy to Medical Progress, 2001). Every Nuclear medicine examinations, the patient will lie down a scanning table. The only piece of gadget that you will observe is the specialized nuclear imaging camera that is used during the procedure. To facilitate imaging in specific parts of the body, it is enclosed in metallic housing. It can look like a large round metallic apparatus hanging from a tall, transportable post or a sleek one-piece metal arm that hangs over the examination table. The camera can also be located within a large, doughnut-shaped structure alike in appearance to a computed tomography (CT) scanner. A nearby computer console, possibly in another room, processes the data from the procedure. The patient is given a small dose of radioactive material, typically intravenously but sometimes orally, that localizes in specific body organ systems. This compound, called a radiopharmaceutical agent or tracer, eventually collects in the organ and gives off energy as gamma rays. The gamma camera senses the rays and works with a computer to produce images and measurements of organs and tissues. A radiopharmaceutical agent is usually directed into a vein. Depending on which type of scan is being performed, the imaging will be completed either right away, a few hours later, or even several days after the injection. Imaging time varies, usually ranging from 20 to 45 minutes. The radiopharmaceutical that is used is determined by what part of the body is under study, since some compounds collect in specific organs better than others. Depending on the type of scan, it may take several seconds to several days for the substance to travel through the body and accumulate in the organ under study, thus the wide range in scanning times. While the images are being achieved, the patient must remain as still as possible. This is especially true when a series of images is obtained to show how an organ functions over time. After the procedure, a physician with specialized training in nuclear medicine evaluates the quality of the images to guarantee that an optimal diagnostic study has been performed. Medical Imaging includes the solution of mathematical inverse problems. This means that cause is inferred from effect. Ultrasonography consists of ultrasonic pressure waves and echoes inside the tissue show the internal structure. In the case of radiography, the probe is X-ray radiation which is absorbed at different rates in different tissue types such as bone, muscle, and fat (Wikipedia Encyclopedia, 2006). This field of Medicine is one of the promising advancement in the field of healing. This is a solution bridge to internal or gastrointestinal diseases. The parts of the gastrointestinal body system are the esophagus, the stomach, the small intestine, the colon, the pancreas, and the hepatobiliary tract (liver, bile ducts, and gall bladder) (Jenseen & Freese, 2005). There are a lot of diseases in gastrointestinal among these are cancer of the liver, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, stomach cancer, gastrointestinal bleeding, and many more. This disease is difficult to detect in details since it is internal and prior tests for such diseases may not be accurate and reliable. The best medium to solve this is through Nuclear Medicine. Nuclear Medicine in Gastrointestinal Diseases Nuclear Medicine is of great help to solve gastrointestinal diseases. Among the prominent diseases is IBD or Inflammatory Bowel Disease which includes ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's Disease. These two diseases have something common but they have unique characteristics that can separate their likeness. Ulcerative colitis always originates in the rectum part and is continuous along the large bowel. It sometimes affects the small intestine. While Crohn's disease is not continuous and though present in the terminal ileum it can still affect any part of gastrointestinal tract. Also Ulcerative colitis can affect only the inner side of the colon while Crohn's disease affects all sides of the bowel (Goodin, 2005). With the help of Nuclear Medicine Imaging, the imaging of IBD may be performed with In-111Leukocytes and Tc-99m Leukocytes. Imaging with In-111 or Tc-99m labeled leukocytes can give a number of important advantages over gallium (Ga-67) citrate and is a process of choice for knowing inflammatory bowel disease. The main reasons for this are the normal excretion of gallium through the bowel and the potential this creates for false positive interpretation. Poor image resolution of gallium will result in difficulty in interpretation. There has been a little radionuclide investigations used to study gastrointestinal tract. Oesophageal, gastric and small and large bowel motility are assessable through motility test. Below is an example of the imaging done by Nuclear medicine: Figure1. 99mTc-pertechnetate Meckel's scan (anterior view) in patient with gastrointestinal bleeding. Increased tracer activity within Meckel's diverticulum (arrow); normal tracer uptake in stomach and adjacent right renal pelvis (Prvulovich & Bomanji, 1998). Although there is a lot of advantages Nuclear Medicine can give to patients with diseases there can still be draw backs. Some patients are allergic to the radiopharmaceutical substance used in the diagnosis but this is very rare to happen. Pregnant women should inform the physician before under going the treatment because it is not good for the baby to be exposed in radioactive materials at this stage. Patients are also exposed little by little to radioactivity but so far there were no reports about the long term adverse effects from low exposure. As with the future trends in using nuclear medicine in detecting diseases in the gastrointestinal tract, studies show that 18F DOPA PET is highly sensitive and specific for detection of pheochromocytomas and has potential as the functional imaging method of the future (Radiological Society of South America, 2002). And recently, researchers have been looking into the possibility of using Positron emission tomography (PET) and other nuclear medicine modalities in staging gastrointestinal cancer (Wiley InterScience, 2001). Summary Nuclear Medicine is actually under Radiology and is a very promising procedure in determining internal diseases. This diagnosis uses radiopharmaceutical substances to be able to have a nuclear medicine imaging of the organs checked. Example of body system checked by this method of healing is the gastrointestinal tract. Diseases like Ulceration colitis and Crohn's Disease are diagnosed by Nuclear Medicine. These two composes the prominent disease called IBD or Inflammatory Bowel disease. Through imaging the physician can advice the patients with such diseases the cure and treatment. With the help of Nuclear Medicine Imaging, the imaging of IBD may be performed with In-111Leukocytes and Tc-99m Leukocytes. Conclusion Nuclear Medicine is therefore a promising way of treating patients of their diseases. This medical field is advance and can greatly help many patients already. Through the continuous search Nuclear Medicine can not only cure patients with gastrointestinal diseases but with other diseases as well. But we should still be careful because sometimes curing may affect other organs. Works Cited Converting Energy to Medical Progress (2001). Doctors Rely on Nuclear Medicine to Help Many Kinds of Patience. 08 May 2006. Jenseen & Freese (2005). Gastrointestinal Diseases. Colorado Center for Disorder, Rocky Mountain Systems, Inc.: Colorado. Nuclear Imaging (2006). 08 May 2006 Nuclear Medicine (2006). What is Nuclear Medicine Radiological Society of North America, Inc: North America Prvulovich & Bomanji (1998). The Role of Nuclear Medicine in Clinical Investigation (316:1140-1146). Institute of Nuclear Medicine, University College London Medical School: London. Universal Encyclopedia (1993). Medicine (vol.19, pp. 79-81). Regency Publishing Group, Inc.: Singapore Wiley InterScience (2001). Radiological Society of South America (2002). Read More