By Express News Service THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Disease diagnosis is set to get an impetus at the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram as it will soon have a single-photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) scan. A nuclear imaging test, the SPECT scan uses a radioactive substance and a special camera to create 3-D pictures and helps a doctor to analyze the function of the internal organs of a patient. The facility will be of tremendous help in the diagnosis of brain and bone disorders and heart problems. It is also expected that the scan will help detect certain types of cancers like brain tumours and cancers that affect the bones. In the state budget 2020-21 an amount of `8 crore was allocated for setting up SPECT scan at the GMCH. “The main difference between a SPECT scan and imaging tests like X-rays is that while the latter shows what the structures inside one’s body looks like, the former produces images that show how one’s organs work. For example, the SPECT scan shows the doctor how blood flows to the heart or what areas of the brain are more active or less active,” said an officer with the GMCH. Health Minister K K Shailaja said that SPECT scan will come up at the Nuclear Medicine Department of the GMCH. She added that the scan will be of great help in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer as the department addresses 15 types of cancer including thyroid cancer, lymphoma, leukemia, and others. “Nuclear medicine is a specialized area of radiology that uses very small amounts of radioactive materials, or radiopharmaceuticals, to examine organ function and structure. SPECT scan mainly involves two steps. First a patient will receive a radioactive substance through an injection. It is called a tracer. Then the SPECT machine will detect these radioactive tracer absorbed by a specific area of the body to create 3D images. SPECT scans are mostly safe. But it’s not safe for pregnant or nursing women,” added the officer. Some of the scans that could be carried out through the SPECT scan include thyroid scan, parathyroid scan, nuclear cardiac scan, kidney scan, bone scan, brain scan, hepatobiliary and gastro internal scan.

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