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1. Introduction
The main difference between nuclear imaging and other radiologic tests is that nuclear
imaging assesses how organs function, whereas other imaging methods assess anatomy, or
how the organs look. The advantage of assessing the function of an organ is that it helps
physicians make a diagnosis and plan present or future treatments for the part of the body
being evaluated. Fast improvements in engineering and computing technologies have made
it possible to acquire high-resolution multidimensional nuclear images of complex organs to
analyze structural and functional information of human physiology for computer-assisted
diagnosis, treatment evaluation, and intervention. Technological inventions and developments
have created new possibilities and breakthroughs in nuclear medical diagnostics. The
classic example is the discovery of Anger, fifty six years ago. The application and commercial
success of new nuclear imaging methods depends mainly on three primary factors:
sensitivity, specificity and cost effectiveness. The first two determine the added clinical value,
in comparison with existing medical imaging methods. Nowadays, much greater importance
is attached to cost effectiveness than in the past. This also holds true for diagnostic
equipment where, for example, one of the consequences is that price erosion will occur where
the functionality of an instrument is not open to further development. Cost effectiveness is
enhanced by more efficient data handling in the hospitals, which has become possible through
the digitization of diagnostic information. The inevitable integration of medical data also
offers other new possibilities, such as the use of pre-operatively acquired images during
surgical procedures.
This chapter presents the principles of nuclear imaging methods and some cases studies and
future trends of nuclear imaging. It discusses too the recent developments in image analysis
and the possible impact of some important current technological progression on nuclear
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