Advances in nuclear medicine: current concepts.
As described above, many scintigraphic studies have recently become available which provide vital clinical information in a wide variety of diseases. The future of nuclear medicine also appears bright. Modifications to current gamma cameras will likely occur in the next few years to replace sodium iodide crystals with new scintillators like oxyorthosilicates which have better imaging characteristics for both single photon and positron-emitting radionuclides. Ongoing computer improvements will allow improved reconstruction and processing with newer systems already capable of advanced iterative reconstruction algorithms. Development of new radiopharmaceuticals is progressing at a rapid pace, with emphasis on new tracers that can provide information about diseases at the molecular level, such as receptor imaging agents. In addition, radiolabeled tracers for therapeutic purposes will continue to progress, including monoclonal antibodies labeled with beta emitters. Overall, nuclear medicine will continue to evolve in many new directions and provide useful functional imaging data about a variety of different organ systems and diseases.
Brown University School of Medicine/Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI 02903, USA.
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D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000379:methods; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005544:Forecasting; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D009683:Nuclear Medicine / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D012237:Rhode Island; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014055:Tomography, Emission-Computed / Q000379:methods; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon / Q000379:methods; D014915:Whole-Body Counting