Nuclear medicine

Nuclear medicine is a branch of medicine that uses radioactive materials to investigate how different parts of the body work. The radioactive material (called a radiopharmaceutical or tracer) is administered to the patient and the areas where it settles are imaged using a special machine called a gamma camera.

As well as detecting abnormalities in the body, some radiopharmaceuticals can be used to treat disease.

For more information, see our frequently asked questions| and the notes on each type of test we do|.