Nuclear Medicine Therapy in India

Nuclear Medicine in Diagnostics

A small amount of radioactive materials is employed in diagnostic procedures to help in viewing the organs, allowing the doctor to discover and identify the abnormalities, size of any tumors, and other physiological or functional problems with the organ.

This approach can also be used to track the course of the disease and its response to treatment. The treatment involves injecting radiopharmaceutical substances into the patients and imaging with PET (Positron Emission Tomography) or SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) cameras. The emission spectra produced by the radiopharmaceutical substances utilized can be read using these approaches.

Most Common Nuclear Medicine Imaging Applications

Nuclear Medicine offers applications in a wide range of diseases, with a focus on Oncology, Cardiology, Nephrology, Orthopedics, Rheumatology, and Neuropsychiatry in particular.

Physicians employ nuclear medicine imaging procedures to visualize the function of an organ, tissue, bone, or system in the body.

Nuclear Medicine in Therapeutics

Nuclear medicine can also be used to treat numerous types of disorders that involve a modest amount of radioactive material. Patients with Thyroid Cancers or an overactive thyroid gland, Neuroendocrine Tumors, Prostate Cancers, Lymphomas, and Liver Tumors are frequently provided nuclear medicine as a therapeutic option.

This targeted therapy strategy damages cancer cells with a little amount of radioactive material or radioisotope, known as Radiopharmaceutical. To deposit fatal radiation into the tumor, the radioactive chemical is conjugated with a tumor-targeting agent. It comes in the shape of a drink, an injection, or a capsule.

Most Popular Nuclear Medicine Therapies in India:

• Alpha PSMA Therapy
• Lu PSMA Therapy
• Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy (PRRT)
• I-131 MIBG Therapy
• ACTINIUM (AC 225)/ALPHA PRRT
• TRANSARTERIAL RADIOEMBOLISATION (TARE)

How does Nuclear Medicine Therapy Works?

Nuclear Medicine Therapy is a relatively new specialty of medicine that combines precision therapeutic strategies with molecular imaging tools. It uses molecular diagnostic tools to diagnose the condition and then uses the same technology to give a radiation dose to the affected area (abnormal tissues).

It is based on the concept of "Theranostics," a ground-breaking field that focuses on giving each patient the correct medicine at the right time and in the right amount.

Iodine-131 therapy for an overactive thyroid gland and thyroid cancer, PRRT for neuroendocrine tumors, and PSMA therapy for prostate cancer are all examples of this method.

Radiation from radioactive material has a greater impact on cancer cells and other illness cells than on normal cells. The radiopharmaceutical chemical has the potential to destroy cancer cells or shrink tumors in the long run.

This is how it works:

A naturally occurring or man-made compound that emits radiation energy is known as radioactive material. The radioactive substance or radiopharmaceutical molecule can be utilized to kill cancer cells or slow the progression of the disease. The material can be solid, liquid, or gas, and it can be given to target cells in a variety of ways depending on the part of the body.

For example, radon is a gas that can be inhaled for therapy, but radioiodine comes in the shape of a capsule or liquid that must be eaten. Every radioisotope has a half-life that defines when it will no longer be radioactive.

Advantages of Nuclear Medicine:

• Nuclear medicine methods provide details on both the function and anatomic structure of the body that are sometimes unavailable with other imaging procedures.
• Nuclear Medicine has the ability to diagnose disease at an early stage, frequently before symptoms or anomalies are recognised by traditional diagnostic tests.
• PET scans may obviate the need for surgical biopsy or determine the optimum biopsy location by determining whether lesions are likely benign or malignant.
• PET CT guided biopsies aid in more accurate cancer diagnosis.

How is Nuclear Medicine Therapy given?

The patient is positioned on an examination table, and the dose of radiotracer is given intravenously, ingested, or inhaled as a gas, depending on the type of Nuclear Medicine Exam. The radiotracer can take anywhere from a few seconds to many days to move through the body and collect in the organ or location being investigated. As a result, imaging can be done right away, a few hours later, or even several days after the radioactive material has been received.

When it's time for imaging, the camera or scanner will capture a series of photos by rotating around the patient's body or staying in one position with the patient changing postures in between.

The patient is urged to remain immobile for short periods of time while the camera takes photographs. To capture the greatest quality photographs, the camera may come very close to the body in some circumstances. If a patient is claustrophobic, the technician should be informed before the examination begins.

Nuclear Medicine Procedures take a different amount of time depending on the type of exam. The scanning process can take anywhere from 20 minutes to several hours, and in rare situations, it may take many days.

Nuclear Medicine Therapy in India

Nuclear Medicine in India has evolved dramatically in the last few years and is now at par with the best in the world. We have on our panel Nuclear Oncology Experts who are a committed group of Nuclear Medicine Physicians, Dosimetrists, Radiation Oncologists, and Technicians with vast experience in Nuclear Medicine Diagnostics and Therapies.

The regimens and protocols are up to worldwide standards, thanks to internationally qualified professionals and world-class facilities. All cases presented to the team are first discussed in a multidisciplinary board composed of Medical, Radiation, and Surgical Oncologists, Pathologists, Physiologists, and Radiologists.

Nuclear Medicine in India- Facilities & Technology

These Nuclear Medicine centers have the most modern Time of Flight PET CT, which has the best tiny lesion detection and accuracy in the industry. The machine's Time of Flight technology enables it to detect lesions as small as 2mm. The machine also has an award-winning open design that makes the scan painless for claustrophobic patients. The newest reconstruction techniques allow scans to be done nearly twice as quickly as the other devices while exposing patients to far less radiation.

These centers also offers the more complex Ga68 DOTANOC PET CT scans for imaging Neuroendocrine Tumors and APUDOMAs, Ga68 PSMA Scan for detecting Prostate Cancer, and Ga 68 Exendin Scan for Insulinomas and Nesedioblastomas, in addition to the traditional F18 FDG PET CT scans. They also have the facility to do PET CT Guided Biopsies and Interventional Procedures, Radiation therapy planning based on PET CT scans, including 4D PET CT scans.

Gamma Camera - These centers also have the most advanced Twin Head Gamma Camera, which is one of the most versatile dual head gamma cameras in the world. The system is capable of conducting all nuclear medicine operations with improved patient convenience and comfort, as it allows for a variety of detector movements and protocols.

All normal Nuclear Medicine procedures are performed in this section, including Bone Scans, Renal Scans, Stress Myocardial Perfusion Scans, Parathyroid Scans, Brain SPECTS, Ventilation Perfusion Scans, Venographies, and Lymphangiography, among others. Besides, in-vitro tests such as plasma GFR evaluation, labeled leukocyte scanning, and Trodat Imaging, which is not available in many centers in Asia.

Radioiodine Probe: Our panel of Nuclear Medicine centers also offer radioiodine Uptake Probe that is utilized for Iodine Studies.

Nuclear Medicine Therapy Unit: A variety of radioisotope therapies are performed, such as Iodine therapy for thyroid cancer, Lutetium PSMA therapy, and Lutetium based therapies for Neuroendocrine Tumors. Besides, myeloablative MIBG therapy for children with high-risk neuroblastomas, Targeted alpha therapy for neuroendocrine tumors, prostate cancer, and some brain tumors are also available.