Brookings Health System Installs New Nuclear Medicine Camera

  • May 30, 2017

Technologist Marquette Nelsen positions a patient under the new nuclear medicine camera for a cardiac stress test. Nuclear medicine helps physicians evaluate how well particular body areas or organs are working. The new system has larger bore to reduce anxiety for claustrophobic patients and to comfortably accommodate all body types.
Technologist Marquette Nelsen positions a patient under the new nuclear medicine camera for a cardiac stress test. Nuclear medicine helps physicians evaluate how well particular body areas or organs are working. The new system has larger bore to reduce anxiety for claustrophobic patients and to comfortably accommodate all body types. 

Brookings Health System recently installed a new nuclear medicine camera in the radiology department at Brookings Hospital, replacing an older system. The new system has a larger bore to reduce anxiety for claustrophobic patients and to comfortably accommodate all body types.

“We can now also perform nuclear medicine tests on a bed or gurney,” said Diagnostic Imaging Director Tim Watson. “For patients who stay at Brookings Hospital and have limited mobility, we can transfer them in their bed and scan them without needing to lift them to an imaging table.”

Nuclear medicine uses a safe, small amount of radioactive medication to diagnose and treat disease. The medication makes the body slightly radioactive for a short time. The nuclear medicine camera tracks the movement of the radioactive medication by detecting the gamma radiation it emits.

A nuclear medicine study helps physicians evaluate how a particular body area or organ is working. Common studies include a cardiac stress test to show how well blood flows into the heart muscle; gall bladder evaluations; bone scans; kidney scans; thyroid and parathyroid scans; gastric emptying studies; and evaluations of bloodflow and airflow to the lungs.

Nuclear medicine is just one of the medical imaging services offered at Brookings Health System. Local patients can also receive MRI, CT, ultrasound and x-ray procedures close to home, saving them time and travel expenses. Images can be shared with any provider. For more information, please visit www.brookingshealth.org/Imaging.

About Brookings Health System

Brookings Health System, located in Brookings, South Dakota, includes the 49-bed Brookings Hospital, the 79-bed The Neighborhoods at Brookview nursing home, Brookhaven Estates senior living apartments, Yorkshire Eye Clinic, and medical clinics in Arlington, White and Volga, South Dakota. It is a non-profit, city-owned facility that offers the community a full range of inpatient, outpatient, surgical and extended care services. The emergency room is staffed 24 hours a day and provides around the clock patient needs ranging from minor injuries to life threatening crises. For more information about the services offered at Brookings Health System, please call (605) 696-9000 or visit us on the Web at brookingshealth.org.