Nuclear medicine is now commonplace. As it involves use of radioactive isotopes in very small doses in diagnosing and treatment of diseases, radioactive medicine injected or administered orally and the distribution in the organ is scanned using a Gamma camera. Tariffs are low starting from US$ 95 for Thallium rest (SPECT), US$ 43 for lung perfusion and venogram of upper or lower limbs, US$ 335 for Ventilation study, US$ 40 for a whole body skeletal study and US4 20 for Tc-99m Thyroid scan. Various non-cardiac planar / SPECT studies for bone, thyroid, liver and lungs scanning functions are performed at specialized centers in India. Diagnostic imaging of the brain, stomach, kidneys, heart, adrenal glands as well as sites of occult infection with the help of sophisticated Gamma Camera with tomographic facilities linked to computer systems can also be performed at many of these centers.

Department of Nuclear - Medicine at Manipal Hospital, Bangalore is equipped with the latest gamma camera assisted by an ultra-sensitive fast computer and is managed by highly trained & competent medical and technical experts. Our procedures commonly called (Scintigraphic investigations or scan) provide valuable functional-information (to a certain extent structural information as well) that can enable physicians / surgeons to make an early diagnosis. These tests are relatively safe, painless and are considered to be among the safest diagnostic tests available.

Nuclear Medicine
Nuclear medicine began approximately 50 years ago and has evolved into a major medical specialty for both diagnosis and therapy of serious disease. More than 3,900 hospital-based nuclear medicine departments in the United States perform over 10 million nuclear medicine imaging and therapeutic procedures each year. Despite its integral role in patient care, nuclear medicine is still often confused with other imaging procedures, including general radiology, CT, and MRI.

Nuclear medicine studies document organ and function and structure, in contrast to conventional radiology, which creates images based upon anatomy. Many of the nuclear medicine studies can measure the degree of function present in an organ, often times eliminating the need for surgery. Moreover, nuclear medicine procedures often provide important information that allows the physician to detect and treat a disease early in its course when there may be more success. It is nuclear medicine that can best be used to study the function of a damaged heart or restriction of blood flow to parts of the brain. The liver, kidneys, thyroid gland, and many other organs are similarly imaged.

Manipal Hospital, Bangalore are among the most recognized center in Bangalore and has strived to provide the best of the treatment and always has looked out to incorporate the latest techniques and technology in Nuclear Medicines.

Our nuclear medicine department offers a wide spectrum of Radionuclide imaging procedures and some of its applications are given below:

++ High risk patients having strong family history of heart disease/ DM/
     Hypertension.

++ Equivocal/ false Treadmill test.

++ To rule out impending ischemia in other territories for future cardiac events in
     patients recovering from acute MI.

++ For assessment of viable myocardium in patients with old MI.

++ Follow up of patients who have undergone CABG/Post angioplasty

++ To evaluate ventricular dysfunction in patients receiving CARDIO-TOXIC
     drugs.

++ Liver Scan

++ Thyroid Scan

++ Gallium Scan

++ Pulmonary embolism (COPD)