Radionuclide imaging

In radionuclide imaging the gamma radiation emerging from a patient is measured to infer the distribution of radioactivity within the tissues. This can provide useful information on the structure and function of many different organs. The procedure is relatively simple and painless for the patient, but it inevitably entails a small radiation dose to the body from the radioactivity administered. In the paper, the equipment and the techniques which have evolved to perform these measurements are reviewed. The basic construction and operation of the Anger gamma camera is described in some detail along with alternative devices which appear to be clinically useful. The continued improvement in the accuracy of these measurements and the need for quantitatively meaningful images has led to the development of emission tomography systems and some of these techniques are also briefly described.