nuclear medicine n a branch of medicine dealing with the use of radioactive materials in the diagnosis and treatment of disease
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the use of radionuclide (especially technetium-99m) as tracer to study the structure and function of organs of the body. The radionuclide is attached to a compound suitable for the particular test and then injected, inhaled, or ingested. When concentrated in the organ under investigation, the tracer can be imaged using a gamma camera, revealing the structure or demonstrating the function of the organ. Alternatively, blood or urine samples may be analysed. See also nuclear cardiology.
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the branch of medicine concerned with the use of radionuclides in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.Medical dictionary. 2011.