Nuclear Medicine Course

Lesson 1 • Units and Radiation Quantities

Defines activity, exposure, absorbed dose, and effective dose. Connects measurement units to clinical and regulatory dose limits.

Lesson 2 • Atomic Structure and Radioactivity

Covers atomic nucleus composition, isotope definitions, and decay modes. Provides the physical basis for understanding radiopharmaceutical behavior.

Lesson 3 • Radiation Interactions with Matter

Explains photoelectric effect, Compton scatter, and pair production. Links interaction types to detector design and image quality.

Lesson 1 • Quality Control of Radiopharmaceuticals

Covers radiochemical purity, sterility, apyrogenicity, and pH testing. Ensures students apply release criteria before patient administration.

Lesson 2 • Radionuclide Production Methods

Covers cyclotron, reactor, and generator-based production of clinically relevant radionuclides. Connects production method to radionuclide purity and availability.

Lesson 3 • Pharmacokinetics and Biodistribution

Describes uptake mechanisms, target-to-background ratios, and clearance routes. Enables prediction of optimal imaging time windows.

Lesson 4 • Radiopharmaceutical Labeling Chemistry

Explains chelation, direct labeling, and kit preparation techniques. Establishes chemical principles needed for quality control interpretation.

Lesson 1 • Emergency Procedures and Spill Response

Outlines spill containment, personnel decontamination, and incident reporting. Prepares staff to respond safely to radiological emergencies.

Lesson 2 • Radioactive Waste Management

Describes decay-in-storage, segregation by half-life, and disposal pathways. Connects waste classification to regulatory compliance requirements.

Lesson 3 • Shielding Design and Materials

Explains lead, concrete, and leaded glass shielding for gamma and beta emitters. Connects material selection to workload and occupancy calculations.

Lesson 4 • Principles of Radiation Protection

Covers justification, optimization, and dose limitation as the three pillars of protection. Frames all subsequent safety procedures within this framework.

Lesson 1 • Radiation Detector Fundamentals

Covers scintillation, semiconductor, and gas-filled detector principles. Provides the physical basis for understanding imaging system components.

Lesson 2 • Gamma Camera Design and Operation

Explains collimator types, NaI crystal, and Anger logic circuitry. Connects component choices to spatial resolution and sensitivity trade-offs.

Lesson 3 • SPECT Acquisition and Reconstruction

Covers step-and-shoot vs. continuous rotation, filtered back-projection, and iterative reconstruction. Links acquisition parameters to image quality outcomes.

Lesson 4 • Hybrid Imaging: SPECT/CT and PET/CT

Covers CT-based attenuation correction, image registration, and fusion display. Demonstrates how anatomical context improves diagnostic accuracy.

Lesson 1 • Acceptance Testing Procedures

Describes baseline performance testing for newly installed systems against manufacturer specifications. Establishes reference values for ongoing QA comparison.

Lesson 2 • Dose Calibrator Quality Assurance

Covers constancy, accuracy, linearity, and geometry tests for dose calibrators. Ensures accurate activity measurement before patient administration.

Lesson 3 • SPECT and PET System QA

Covers tomographic uniformity, contrast recovery, and PET normalization procedures. Extends planar QA concepts to volumetric imaging systems.

Lesson 1 • Brain Perfusion and Neuroreceptor Imaging

Covers HMPAO and ECD brain perfusion agents, DaTscan protocol, and dementia pattern recognition. Links tracer kinetics to neurological diagnosis.

Lesson 2 • Myocardial Perfusion Imaging

Covers stress and rest protocols, radiopharmaceutical selection, and perfusion defect interpretation. Central to nuclear cardiology competency.

Lesson 3 • Infection and Inflammation Imaging

Covers labeled leukocyte, gallium-67, and bone marrow imaging for infection localization. Addresses patient preparation and image interpretation pitfalls.

Lesson 4 • Bone Scintigraphy

Explains Tc-99m MDP biodistribution, three-phase protocol, and lesion pattern interpretation. Covers oncologic and orthopedic clinical indications.

Lesson 1 • FDG PET/CT Acquisition and Processing

Explains whole-body scan range, bed position overlap, and iterative reconstruction settings. Links acquisition parameters to SUV accuracy.

Lesson 2 • FDG PET/CT Patient Preparation

Covers fasting requirements, blood glucose management, and injection-to-scan timing. Correct preparation directly determines image quality and diagnostic accuracy.

Lesson 3 • Radiation Dosimetry for PET Patients

Calculates effective dose from FDG and non-FDG tracers and CT components. Supports informed consent and dose optimization decisions.

Lesson 4 • Oncologic FDG PET/CT Interpretation

Covers SUV measurement, Deauville and PERCIST criteria, and common pitfall recognition. Enables systematic reporting of oncologic PET/CT studies.

Lesson 1 • Peptide Receptor Radionuclide Therapy

Explains Lu-177 DOTATATE patient selection, cycle dosing, and renal protection with amino acid infusion. Connects somatostatin receptor expression to therapy response.

Lesson 2 • Post-Therapy Patient Management

Covers radiation precautions, follow-up imaging schedules, and toxicity surveillance after therapy. Ensures safe patient discharge and long-term monitoring.

Lesson 3 • PSMA-Targeted Radionuclide Therapy

Covers Lu-177 PSMA patient eligibility, dosing, and salivary gland toxicity management. Addresses the role of pre-therapy PSMA PET in patient selection.

Lesson 4 • Radioiodine Therapy for Thyroid Disease

Covers I-131 dosing for hyperthyroidism and differentiated thyroid cancer, including ablation and adjuvant therapy. Addresses patient isolation and discharge criteria.