Quantitative Lung Scan

A lung scan is a simple and painless way of taking pictures of your lungs. It shows us the distribution of air supply and blood supply to the various areas of your lungs. This test measures lung function, so that viable parts of the lung may be determined before surgery, to predict post-operative function of the lungs.

When you arrive in the department, a technologist will explain the entire procedure to you and then give you the opportunity to ask any questions. If you have any superficial metal around chest, you will be asked to change into hospital gowns or remove the metal. Then, the technologist will ask you to lie down on an imaging table.  

The test is done in two parts. In the first part, we look at the air supply to your lungs. For this, you will be asked to breathe some gas through your mouth. You will be asked to breathe through a special mouthpiece. The gas that you breathe is mostly ordinary air, mixed with a small amount of radioactivity and an inert gas called argon. There are no known side effects from this gas. You will only need to breathe the gas for a couple of minutes. Then the technologist will take an image of your chest. 

In the second part, we will look at the blood supply to your lungs. For this, the technologist will give you an injection of a radioactive tracer in a vein in your arm. There are no known side effects from this injection. Then the technologist will take the same image of your chest, as in the first part. We will also take three dimensional images of your chest. 

The entire procedure takes about an hour.

• Bring your Health card.
• No special preparation is required. You will be able to eat, drink and take your medications as usual on the day of your scan.  
• We would like you to dress in clothing that does not have any metal. Please refrain from wearing any jewelry. Please leave all valuables at home.
• Please notify our booking office at the time of scheduling your appointment if you have any concerns regarding claustrophobia, lying still, require a mechanical lift for transfer to the imaging bed, have a language barrier or any other special needs, so that appropriate arrangements can be made ahead to provide you with the best possible care.

For the first part of the test, breathing through a mouthpiece can feel strange. You need to imagine that you are breathing through a large straw.  

For the second part, the pinprick of the injection needle may hurt a bit. You may have had a blood test in the past. This is much the same.

The breathing gas as well as the injection contain a small amount of radioactive tracer which emits gamma rays (these are similar to X-rays). The radiation dose is very low and will disappear by itself after two days. The results of your scan will give your doctor useful information about your condition and will help them plan your treatment. The benefits of having the scan far outweigh any potential risk from the small radiation dose.  

No special precautions are needed after the scan. If you are travelling across any borders in the seven days after your scan, please ask us for further advice. Border crossings and airports have very sensitive radiation detectors which may pick up tiny amounts of radioactivity remaining after your scan. We will give you a letter that you can show to customs officials at border crossings or airports. 

Please tell us if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding may need to be interrupted for up to 12 hours after the exam, during which time milk should be pumped and discarded. Prepare for your exam accordingly. 

A specially trained doctor will examine the results of your test. This is normally done soon after the end of the test. A report is then sent to the doctor who asked us to do the test. Your doctor will normally receive the report within one week. You will also have access to the report on MyChart as soon as it is released. 

If you have questions about the scan results or report, please contact your doctor directly. They are best able to interpret the report for you. 

No. This test is paid for by the healthcare system. The test costs several hundred dollars, so please notify the department at 613-761-4831 if you cannot make your appointment. 

If you cannot make your appointment, it is important that you notify the department at 613-761-4831 as soon as possible. Failure to make your appointment results in wasting of expensive materials that are ordered especially for your appointment and also reduces availability to other patients. Missed appointments may also result in delays of your treatments.