There are many words of foreign origin in Turkish, which came from different languages and became Turkish by changing with the suffixes they adopted over time. Words of foreign origin are often terms used in different fields or branches of science. One of these is the word scintigraphy, which has found its place in the field of medicine and came to our language from French.
What is scintigraphy?
Scintigraphy is a term used in the field of medicine. It is a type of test that allows organs to be examined by spreading radioactive substances throughout the body, given to people by injection or orally in very low amounts and at certain rates.
It is not necessary to be hungry or full when applying this test. However, the important thing is that the patient consumes plenty of water before and after the test. It is extremely important for the person to remain still for the quality of the footage taken during the test.
What does scintigraphy mean?
In Turkish dictionaries, scintigraphy is included in the medical language with a single definition of French origin and noun type. According to this definition, scintigraphy is a diagnostic method based on monitoring the path of a radioactive isotope that emits gamma rays within the organism.
What are the types of scintigraphy?
Scintigraphy types vary depending on the person’s illness. For example, if cardiac scintigraphy is to be performed heart-focused, it is performed to evaluate the blood flow status and function of the heart muscle. Some of the scintigraphy types for different purposes are as follows:
- Lacrimal scintigraphy
- bone scan
- Testicular scintigraphy
- thyroid scan
- For the diagnosis of lymphedema
- For the control of lung diseases
- To monitor enlargements in the parathyroid glands
- To check stomach contents
How to take scintigraphy?
Generally, no special preparation is made before scintigraphy. However, in some cases, the patient may fast for a certain period of time or use medication may be restricted.
In scintigraphy, the patient is first given radioactive material and waited for a while. Because the substance must spread throughout the body. The patient is then placed under or inside a special device called a gamma camera. This device detects the rays emitted from radioactive material and creates an image. The total duration of the procedure varies between 20-45 minutes on average. It is necessary and important to drink a lot of water and urinate frequently after scintigraphy.