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If you cannot attend your appointment, please call 613-761-4831 as soon as possible. Missing your appointment wastes costly materials prepared specifically for your exam and limits access for other patients. It may also delay your treatment.
Overview
Nuclear medicine and molecular imaging are specialized areas of medical imaging that use small amounts of radioactive materials, called tracers, to examine how organs and tissues are working inside the body.
A nuclear medicine procedure can help with:
- Diagnosing conditions early.
- Determining how severe disease is.
- Identifying whether the disease is recurring.
- Assessing and evaluating how a disease is progressing.
In some cases, nuclear medicine is used to deliver targeted treatment.
The Ottawa Hospital uses advanced imaging systems and follows strict safety standards to ensure low radiation exposure. Most tests are painless and involve receiving a tracer by injection, swallowing or breathing it in.
A specially trained Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging technologist will perform the procedure under the direction of the Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging doctor.
Your procedure
Preparing for your procedure
Generally, patients don’t need special preparations, but for some studies it is necessary to go without breakfast or to stop taking certain medications. If special preparation is required in your case, you will receive instructions. If in doubt, please contact the campus where your procedure is scheduled.
Pregnancy or breastfeeding
If you are or think that you might be, or if you are breastfeeding please let us know. The procedure may have to be modified, postponed or cancelled.
Clothing
You may save time by wearing loose, comfortable clothing such as a sweat suit. Please do not wear jewelry, hairpins, or metal belt buckles. If your schedule requires that you arrive in more formal attire, you may be asked to change into a hospital gown.
Downtime
Many nuclear medicine tests are done in phases. After receiving a small amount of radioactive tracer, you may need to wait an hour or even return on another day before images can be taken. You might want to bring something to read or do during the wait. In some cases, you may be allowed to leave the department or hospital between phases.
During your procedure
Your scan will take place in a quiet, low-radiation environment. After receiving a small amount of radioactive tracer—usually by injection, swallowing or inhalation—you may be asked to wait before imaging begins. This waiting period allows the tracer to travel through your body and highlight the area being studied.
When it’s time for imaging, you’ll lie on a table while a gamma camera takes pictures. A gamma camera sees radioactivity in the same way that an ordinary camera sees light. The procedure is no different from having your photograph taken but the exposure time will be longer.
The scan is painless, and you’ll be asked to stay still to ensure clear images. The camera may come close to you but will not touch you or hurt you. You will hear the noise of machinery moving the camera and probably some electronic beeping sounds. It is like having an x-ray taken, but no radiation comes out of the camera.
A technologist will be in the room with you most of the time to operate the gamma camera and to attend to your needs and answer your questions. They may leave the room briefly.
Before you leave the department, the technologist will check the pictures to be sure the test is complete and has provided the most useful results possible.
Safety information
Nuclear medicine and molecular imaging use very small amounts of radioactive tracers to help diagnose and treat health conditions. Because the dose is so low, your exposure to radiation is minimal—often less than what you’d receive from a CT scan or over a few months of everyday living.
To keep you safe, our team follows the ALARA principle: “As Low As Reasonably Achievable.” This means we carefully choose the smallest dose needed to get accurate results, based on the type of scan and the area being studied.
These tracers are also used in treatments, such as for overactive thyroids or certain cancers. All radiopharmaceuticals are approved by Health Canada and prepared with strict safety standards.
Going home
In most cases, you’ll be fine to drive yourself home after a nuclear medicine scan, as reactions to the radioactive tracer are not expected. If you prefer, a friend or family member can come with you. For some tests, you may be given medication after which you can not drive. If this applies to your exam, you’ll be informed ahead of time.
After effects from the scan are unlikely. Only a small dose of radiation is used. The dose is kept to the minimum necessary to obtain a useful result. The risk from this radiation is extremely small.
If you received a radioactive tracer, your body will naturally eliminate it over time—usually through urine. Drinking extra water (unless you have fluid restrictions) can help speed up this process.
Getting your results
After examining your test results, a Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging physician will send a written report to your physician. Your physician will explain the results to you.
Frequently asked questions
Contact us
Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging – Civic Campus
613-761-4831 (Central Booking)
613-761-4280 (Direct)
The Ottawa Hospital – Civic Campus
1st floor
1053 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1Y 4E9
Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging – General Campus
613-761-4831 (Central Booking)
613-737-8395 (Direct)
The Ottawa Hospital – General Campus
501 Smyth Road, Ottawa, ON K1H 8L6
Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.