Single-photon emission computed tomography

<p>Single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT, or less commonly, SPET) is a <a href="/facts/Nuclear_medicine/L9Dzjd90">nuclear medicine</a> <a href="/facts/Tomography/HGqzMl2s">tomographic</a> imaging technique using <a href="/facts/Gamma_ray/5Drf913J">gamma rays</a>. It is very similar to conventional nuclear medicine planar imaging using a <a href="/facts/Gamma_camera/coGxuajk">gamma camera</a> (that is, <a href="/facts/Scintigraphy/tkaKjAEH">scintigraphy</a>), but is able to provide true <a href="/facts/3D_computer_graphics/zlWW6eaF">3D</a> information. This information is typically presented as cross-sectional slices through the patient, but can be freely reformatted or manipulated as required.
</p><p>The technique needs delivery of a gamma-emitting <a href="/facts/Radioisotope/5WpCfbdq">radioisotope</a> (a <a href="/facts/Radionuclide/5WpCfbdq">radionuclide</a>) into the patient, normally through injection into the bloodstream. On occasion, the radioisotope is a simple soluble dissolved ion, such as an  <a href="/facts/Isotopes_of_gallium/Wk0C9DbY">isotope of gallium</a>(III). Usually, however, a marker radioisotope is attached to a specific ligand to create a <a href="/facts/Radioligand/BD7LXsdM">radioligand</a>, whose properties bind it to certain types of tissues. This marriage allows the combination of ligand and <a href="/facts/Radiopharmaceutical/x3g6zbB6">radiopharmaceutical</a> to be carried and bound to a place of interest in the body, where the ligand concentration is seen by a gamma camera.
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Single-photon emission computed tomography open-in-new

Single-photon emission computed tomography