21-09-2008, 11:34 PM
SPECT, the acronym for Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography, is a nuclear medicine imaging modality, giving information about a patient?s specific organ or body system. The patient is injected with a radiopharmaceutical, which will emit Gamma rays. The radio activity is collected by an instrument called gamma camera and the image is reconstructed. SPECT is used to make three dimensional images of the heart, to perform brain studies and for skeletal scintigraphy. It is reasonable to speculate about a constant by perhaps a slower rate of increase of clinical applications of SPECT. It is safe to conclude that SPECT has reached the stage where it will be a valuable and also an unavoidable asset to the medical world. SPECT is used routinely to help diagnose and stage cancer, stroke, liver disease, lungs disease and a host of other physiological (functional) abnormalities