Nuclear Medicine

General Information

PO Box 208042 New Haven, CT 06520-8042 Admin Assistant, Nel Rodríguez

The Nuclear Medicine section in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging is comprised of subspecialty trained physicians. The section provides comprehensive nuclear medicine imaging and therapy.

Clinical

Nuclear medicine uses organ function to image and treat many diseases. Small amounts of radioactive substances are administered to patients to map organ function and create functional or molecular images.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) are nuclear medicine techniques used to generate highly sensitive, measurable images of disease.

Examples of nuclear medicine studies include imaging for pulmonary embolism, infection, gastrointestinal bleeding, renal function, bone tumors, fractures, gallbladder diseases, Parkinson's disease, hyperparathyroidism, thyroid diseases, neuroendocrine diseases, dementia, epilepsy and many forms of cancer.

We have an active nuclear medicine therapy service, treating thyroid cancer and hyperthyroidism, as well as metastatic disease. The Nuclear Medicine Section was the first site in Connecticut to use Ra-223 therapy for bone pain palliation in patients with metastatic prostate cancer. Patients receiving treatment doses are seen by physicians in our nuclear medicine consultation clinic, where we discuss treatment effects and radiation safety precautions.

New additions to the Nuclear Medicine division include state-of-the-art PET/CT scanners for evaluation of cancer and neurologic diseases. We have 3 dedicated PET/CT scanners which provide the highest quality molecular imaging for tumor diagnosis, staging and treatment response.

The Nuclear Medicine section is at the forefront of the field of theranostics. Theranostics is the term used to describe the combination of using one radioactive agent to diagnose disease and a second radioactive drug to deliver therapy to treat tumors. We were the first site in Connecticut to utilize this technology in the imaging and treatment of neuroendocrine tumors.

Research

The section of Nuclear Medicine is actively involved in performing clinical and translational research. Some recent examples include novel PET agents for imaging and treating prostate and neuroendocrine cancers and the imaging of brain tumors. The Molecular Imaging Clinical and Translational Research Laboratory (MICTRL) was created to support the rapid growth of our involvement in this arena.

The research mission of the section is realized through collaboration with the Yale Positron Emission Tomography Center (PET Center). The PET Center provides the highest quality nuclear imaging research to aid in the diagnosis of disease and advance drug development.

Education

The Nuclear Medicine section is committed to the strong education mission embraced by the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging. This includes daily clinical rotation teaching, multidisciplinary conferences and didactic lectures for medical students, radiology residents and nuclear radiology fellows.

The section has an ACGME accredited Nuclear Radiology Fellowship, as well as the Nuclear Radiology Pathway. Through the American Board of Radiology, the Nuclear Radiology Pathway enables diagnostic radiology residents to qualify for dual board certification in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine.