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The Emory Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging offers the latest innovations and equipment in the field, including 2 dedicated PET (positron emission tomography) scanners and a cyclotron that provide scans for patients. The division is also part of the many research projects conducted by the Emory University of Medicine faculty.
Nuclear medicine procedures scan organ functions with the use of radioactive compounds, or radioisotopes. The compounds are given to patients either by injection in a vein or by administering a radiopharmaceutical or "tracer" drug.
The division directory David Schuster, M.D. works with the staffs at Emory University Hospital and at affiliated institutions including Grady Memorial Hospital, The V.A. Medical Center and Crawford Long Hospital.
The Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Division at Emory sponsors a residency training program and a nuclear radiology fellowship program. In addition, the division offers continuing medical education with its annual postgraduate Nuclear Medicine Update Course each July in Sea Island, Georgia.
Our Nuclear Medicine Laboratories, including PET, Nuclear Cardiology and Nuclear Medicine, have received a comprehensive accreditation by ICANL ( Intersocietal Commission for Accreditation of Nuclear Labs). ICANL accreditation signifies that a facility has been reviewed by an independent agency that recognizes the laboratory's commitment to quality testing.
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The following is an outline of
PROCEDURES
The radiopharmaceutical or tracer that is administered to a patient contains a small amount of radioactive material that is relatively harmless. Depending on its composition, the tracer concentrates in different body organs. The patient is then placed next to a gamma camera that will take images of the part of the body being studied. The resulting images are used to evaluate abnormalities in all major organs, such as the heart and the endocrine system.
The featured procedures of Emory's Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging division include:
- Screening for Coronary Calcifications; a process that evalutates potential blockage in the heart's arteries.
- Cardiac Imaging
- Tumor Staging
- Renal Imaging
- Specialized Kidney Function and imaging studies for obstruction, hypertension and other conditions
- Myocardial Perfusion and function studies
- Gated Blood Pool studies
- Bone Scans
- Systematic Radiation Therapy for Non-Hodgkins Lymphphoma (investigative protocol)
- High Dose I-31 MIBG for Neuroendocrine tumors that have spread(investigative protocol)
- Sentinel Lymph Node Imaging (breast cancer and melanoma staging)
- Thyroid Therapies and Thyroid Cancer
- Bone Pain for Cancer and FDG PET
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LOCATION/CONTACT INFORMATION
The Emory Division of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging's staff performs procedures at Emory University Hospital, Grady Memorial Hospital, the Atlanta V.A. Medical Center and Crawford Long Hospital.
The contact for all locations is:
Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
1364 Clifton Rd., NE
Atlanta Georgia 30322
Scheduling: 404-778-5364; Fax: 770-712-0945
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STAFF
David Schuster, MD, Director, Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
Clinical Director, Center for Positron Emission Tomography
Naomi P. Alazraki, MD
Chief of Nuclear Medicine at V.A. Medical Center
Andrew T. Taylor, MD
Professor of Radiology
William A Fajman, MD
Chief, Nuclear Medicine at Grady Memorial Hospital
Raghu Halkar, MD
Chief, Nuclear Medicine and Clinical PET/EUH
Kenneth Scheidt, MD Chief, Nuclear Medicine, Crawford Long Hospital
Douglas Bremner, MD, PhD Director, Center for Positron Emission Tomography
Scott Bartley, MDAssistant Professor of Radiology
Director, Nuclear Medicine Residency Tran
Arturo Lira, MD
Assistant Professor of Radiology
Brad Wyly, MD
Associate Professor of Radiology
James Galt, PhD
Director of Nuclear Medicine Physics
John Aarsvold, PhD
Elizabeta Krawczynska, PhD
Mark Goodman, PhD
Tracy Faber, PhD
Bahjat Faraj, PhD
John Votaw, PhD
Rauf Sarper, PhD
David Cooke, MSEE
Ernest Garcia, PhD
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Do nuclear scans hurt?
Nuclear scans are painless other than the discomfort of a needle stick.
Are there people who should not get a nuclear scan?
People who have certain allergies or blood disorders and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should not have scans.
Will a nuclear medicine scan make a person radioactive?
The isotopes or compounds that used for the procedures are given in tiny, relatively harmless amounts. They lose their radioactivity quickly and pass out of the body within 24 hours.
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