Technetium Bone Scan

In layman's term, technetium bone scan is nothing but a simple bone scan with the use of technetium as a tracer. Some of you, who have never undergone a bone scan yet, might ask, what it is all about. In simple words, doctors carry out bone scans when they want to find any infection or tumor or any kind of small fracture which cannot be seen either with the help of an X-ray or cannot be detected through other tests. The doctors put in a small amount of radioactive tracer in your body and after sometime, you are asked to undergo a scan. The tracer which had been used now gets collected in those areas where you have a high bone turnover. Due to this, the doctors can easily find out the presence of any tumor or fracture.

The Scan

This is a simple bone scan which uses technetium as a tracer in order to detect tumors and small fractures in the body. So why do doctors use technetium? And what do we mean by a technetium 99 bone scan? Let's see.

Reasons for Using Technetium
Technetium was discovered for the first time in 1925. The term has been derived from a Greek word "Technetos", which mean 'artificial'. It was the first chemical element that was produced in an artificial manner for the first time. This element is used as a tracer in technetium scan as it can detect tiny tumors or fractures. This is possible because it gives out 140 keV gamma rays, which can be easily detected while performing the technetium scan. That is why doctors use this element in bone scans.

Three Phase Scan
As mentioned above, if the doctors say or suspect that the patient has a bone problem, such as a tiny tumor or small bone fractures which cannot be seen with the help of an X-ray, then, the patient has to undergo a three phase scanning procedure. Before the scan, it's not necessary for you to fast. You can eat or drink before the scan. Drink enough liquid, in order to clear your bladder between the injection and the scan. Before going for the technetium scan, make sure that you check and double check all the important guidelines that you, as a patient have to follow before the scan. If you are pregnant or breast feeding, or have any medical history or are suffering from any medical problems, then you should inform your doctor. Depending on that, the doctor will carry out the technetium scan. Follow whatever the doctor asks you to do carefully.

The procedure that is involved is that, first the doctor will inject the technetium into the patient's body. Usually it is injected in the arm of the patient. Whatever amount is injected, half of that element will be used to trace out any problems in the bones, while half of it will be excreted through urine. The tracer then goes and collects in the places where there is a problem. This will take some time. After a few hours, the doctor can read the result from the scanned images. Technetium scan is visible on the film. The scanned images are made after every 5 hours after the tracer has been injected. This is how a technetium 99m bone scan is done.

So now that you know how the scan is done, you will find it easier when the doctor carries out the scan on you. It is a safe and reliable method. Just follow all the instructions carefully and it will go smoothly.