Image Based Question-71355

Identify this radiological technique:

A. Whole Body X ray.

B. Bone Scan.

C. HIDA Scan.

D. Bone Mineral Densitometry.

Show Answer

Correct Answer » B Explanation

Ans:B. Bone Scan.

Bone Scan

A bone scan or bone scintigraphy is a nuclear medicine imaging technique of the bone. It can help diagnose a number of bone conditions, including; cancer of the bone or metastasis, location of bone inflammation and fractures (that may not be visible in traditional X-ray images), and bone infection.

Principle

The most common radiopharmaceutical for bone scintigraphy is 99mTc with methylene diphosphonate (MDP).MDP adsorbs onto the crystalline hydroxyapatite mineral of bone.

Mineralisation occurs at osteoblasts, representing sites of bone growth, where MDP (and other diphosphates) “bind to the hydroxyapatite crystals in proportion to local blood flow and osteoblastic activity and are therefore markers of bone turnover and bone perfusion”.

The more active the bone turnover, the more radioactive material will be seen. Some tumors, fractures and infections show up as areas of increased uptake.

Bone scan showing multiple bone metastases from prostate cancer.