Nuclear Medicine

Clinical Services

Nuclear medicine is a branch of medicine utilizing radioisotopes. It is applied in the diagnosis of various diseases in modern medical practice. This Unit is responsible for nuclear medicine imaging and treatment (radioisotope therapy) for many patients. Nuclear medicine covers both PET and non-PET imaging.

 

  1. PET

    National Health Insurance covers FDG PET-CT, a test used to detect and image radioactive tracers, most commonly 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) which is introduced into the body, using a dedicated PET-CT camera. It is effective in determining the cancer stage prior to operation and recurrence after operation.
    Other tracers include oxygen-15 labelled O2, CO2 and H2O, which visualizes blood flow and oxygen use in the brain. PET is useful in deciding the treatment strategy for cerebrovascular disorders; however, not many institutions are equipped with generation system of oxygen-15 labelled compounds. Hokkaido University Hospital is accepting patients from all over Hokkaido.For any other radioactive tracers that we are using for research purposes, please refer to our Research pages.

  2. Non-PET imaging

    Other tests range widely from traditional bone scintigraphy and myocardial perfusion scintigraphy to new tests such as Octreoscan (for neuroendocrine tumors) and DaTSCAN (for Parkinson’s disease). These tests are conducted upon request by clinical doctors at Hokkaido University Hospital and elsewhere. Radiology reports are prepared and submitted promptly to.

  3. Treatment

    Targeted radiotherapy with iodine-131 applies to minimal residual lesion tumor masses after thyroid cancer operation and metastatic tumors. We have 5 radiotherapy room in the inpatient ward. Maximum 5.5 GBq of I-131 is administered per treatment. Radiotherapy with I-131 is applied to an outpatient/inpatient with Graves disease. Radiotherapy with radium chloride (Ra-223) is applied to an outpatient with prostate cancer bone metastases. Radiotherapy with I-131 MIBG is applicable to inpatients with pheochromocytoma and is not covered by health insurance.

Requests for nuclear medicine test/treatment will be accepted at any time. Please contact the Community Service and Welfare Network of Hokkaido University Hospital or Outpatients Service, Department of Nuclear Medicine (011-706-5776).