The gamma camera or Anger camera has long been the work-horse of Nuclear Medicine. Using specialized detector crystals that emit light when hit by photons (radiation emanating from the body) we are able to plot their origin on a grid or matrix using intricate x- y- coordinate circuitry that ultimately allows us to reconstruct the physiological and pathological processes taking place in the body pictographically by coupling radioactive isotopes to specific drugs, chemicals and molecules and administering them. This imaging system is widely used in the evaluation of various organs systems, cancer evaluation and detection and localization of infections.
These camera detectors can also be made to rotate around a section of the body and allow us to recreate a three-dimensional picture of these physiological and pathological processes by using complex computer reconstruction algorithms. This is known as single photon emission computed tomography or SPECT.
We can furthermore superimpose these images on an anatomical images from a CT-scanner (which give us information about the shape and size of an object rather than its function)—this allows us to better localize these processes. This hybrid form of imaging is known as SPECT-CT.
At TheraMed Nuclear we make use of the Mediso Anyscan® and Anyscan® S systems, which offer both conventional planar imaging, SPECT and SPECT-CT capabilities.
