Imaging of disease-related functional disorders
The strength of nuclear medicine diagnostics is the visualisation and measurement of important bodily functions such as blood circulation, metabolism and the function of vital organs such as the brain, heart, kidneys, bones or vital hormone-producing glands such as the thyroid gland. Numerous tumour diseases can be detected on the basis of a greatly increased consumption of nutrients by the tumour cells and the entire body can be searched for tumour foci in a single examination.
For this purpose, you will be administered a very small amount of a low-level radioactive drug, which poses no acute danger to you or those around you. You will generally not experience any unpleasant side effects, as the amount of substance used is extremely small.
The distribution in the body is then visualised using state-of-the-art measuring instruments. Scintigraphy and positron emission tomography techniques are available for this purpose. Would you like to find out more?
We will be happy to explain more under the corresponding sections "Scintigraphy and SPECT/CT" and "PET/CT".
PET/CT "combined positron emission tomography/computed tomography"
Multimodal imaging: more than the sum of its parts!
An important focus of our clinic is so-called "multimodal imaging". In one device, the PET/CT, both high-resolution computed tomography (CT) sectional images and the nuclear medicine data of the PET are recorded. This optimally combines the strengths of modern cross-sectional imaging - high-resolution organ visualisation - and sensitive functional measurement and "fuses", i.e. superimposes them into a single image. We can also superimpose our PET/CT images with other examinations, such as MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).
The advantage for you: maximum information and precise diagnostics in one examination. Would you like to make an appointment or find out more?
PET/CT - how does it work?
Positron emission tomography (PET) is an imaging technique that produces cross-sectional images of living organisms by visualising the distribution of weakly radioactively labelled substances (radiopharmaceuticals) in the organism and thus depicting biochemical and physiological functions ("functional" or "molecular" imaging). PET only requires very small amounts of radioactive drugs (only a few millionths of a gram!), so that practically no undesirable effects are to be expected.
PET/CT is used clinically for many tumour diseases, including tumours of the lung, lymph node cancer (malignant lymphomas), head and neck tumours, bowel cancer, bone tumours, skin tumours (melanoma) and neuroendocrine tumours (NETs). One of our specialities is PSMA-PET/CT for prostate cancer. In neurology, PET/CT is used, for example, for Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. In cardiology, PET/CT can be helpful in determining the vitality of the heart muscle after severe circulatory disorders. PET/CT is also used to diagnose inflammation or to assess the stability of prostheses such as hip replacements.
We produce the radioactive drugs for PET/CT, the so-called "tracers", for you in our own radiopharmaceutical laboratory. For your protection, strict quality criteria apply, as in the pharmaceutical industry for the production of medicines (so-called GMP criteria, which stands for "good manufacturing practice").
We routinely offer you the following substances for PET/CT examinations:
- [18F] FDG (tumours, inflammation, dementia)
- [68Ga] PSMA ligand (prostate carcinoma)
- [68Ga] DOTA-i-TATE (neuroendocrine tumours, meningiomas)
- [11C] PIB (detection of amyloid deposits in dementia)
- [11C] Methionine (amino acid metabolism, parathyroid gland, brain tumours)
- [18F] FDOPA (neuroendocrine tumours, medullary thyroid carcinoma, Parkinson's syndromes)
Scintigraphy | SPECT | SPECT/CT
Scintigraphy is an imaging technique that uses very small amounts of radioactive drugs to visualise specific organ functions and metabolic pathways. For this purpose, the distribution of the administered radioactive drugs is measured and precisely analysed using special measuring devices known as gamma cameras. In addition, cross-sectional images of the radioactivity distribution can be used for diagnostics with gamma camera/CT combination devices. This new technology favourably combines anatomically high-resolution slice images with the function-specific molecular imaging of radioactive drugs. Would you like to make an appointment for an examination or find out more about us?
Please contact us, we will be happy to advise you!
SPECT/CT camera: The superimposition of functional imaging with the anatomical image information from computer tomography enables precise and comprehensive diagnostics
Scintigraphy using the planar technique, slice technique (SPECT) or fusion imaging technique (SPECT/CT) is frequently used to examine the skeletal system, e.g. for bone metastases, but also for sentinel lymph node scintigraphy (SLN scintigraphy), for examinations of kidney function or blood flow to the heart muscle and for a variety of other organ function tests.
Thyroid outpatient clinic
We offer all procedures for thyroid diagnostics. As a rule, an ultrasound examination (sonography) and a blood sample are required. If necessary, a thyroid scintigram or fine needle aspiration can also be carried out. In addition, state-of-the-art cross-sectional imaging techniques such as SPECT/CT and PET/CT are available for further examinations. A radioiodine test is carried out before any radioiodine therapy on the clinic's therapy ward. This also includes a measurement after approx. 24 hours.
We provide leading care for patients with malignant thyroid disease as part of the Comprehensive Cancer Centre Ulm (CCCU). Treatment concepts are discussed together with experts from other specialities and discussed individually for each patient so that the best individual therapy can be carried out.
Special consultation appointments can be arranged for a detailed medical discussion.(see contact)