For over 60 years, the IAEA has been supporting the safe and effective use of nuclear techniques in medicine around the world. When available, these techniques can help with the diagnosis, treatment and management of a wide range of illnesses.Read more
In medicine, ionizing radiation is used both for diagnosis, since it makes it possible to obtain images of the inside of people, and for the treatment of certain diseases.Read more
Diagnostic tests involving radiation are an invaluable tool to manage many other diseases, including those affecting the lungs (asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease); kidney (stones; pyelonephritis); liver and gallbladder; pancreas; and the lymphatic and musculoskeletal system.Read more
Nuclear medicine uses different types of isotopes for diagnostic and therapeutic applications. The choice of these is conditioned by the need for them to be non-toxic, have an ideal type of radioactive emission, low energy and a short half-life, so that the absorbed dose is small. Their elimination must be rapid so that the time they remain in the organism is not prolonged.Read more
PET stands for nothing less than positron emission tomography, and is a technique that involves many branches of science such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, biochemistry, pharmacy and, of course, medicine.Read more
The revolution brought about by the introduction of computerized tomography in medical diagnosis is often compared to the discovery of X-rays by Roentgen. The benefits of the images it produced radically changed radiological practice. Finally, the internal structures of the patient could be seen without the overlap they experience in conventional radiology. Furthermore, it was the first application of digital procedures in the field of medical physics.Read more