Nuclear medicine is a medical speciality involving the application of radioactive substances in the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Procedures that involve the production and administration of radionuclides to the body for either diagnostic or therapeutic purposes fall under the remit of this field.

This course text provides an introduction to key topics in nuclear medicine, from the fundamental principles of radioactivity through to the production and use of radionuclides for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. New to the second edition is a chapter on the use of Monte Carlo methods in nuclear medicine, new sections on machine learning and intraoperative nuclear probes and recent updates about novel radiopharmaceutical production. The book can be used as an informative supplement in general physics undergraduate programmes and masters postgraduate level medical physics.

Key Features:

• Uses text, graphs, illustrative figures and equations to provide readers with an insight into the performance and capabilities of systems currently used in hospitals

• Covers emerging and novel techniques and technologies in nuclear medicine

• New chapter added on Monte Carlo techniques in nuclear medicine which is gaining in importance due to enhanced computing power

• Example questions provided throughout with solutions so that readers can test their understanding of key concepts