Radioactivity was discovered in 1896 by Henri Becquerel. His work
was similar to that of Madame Marie Curie, Ernest Rutherford and others. Many
consider Bequerel to be the founding father of nuclear medicine. The
formal origin of the field of nuclear medicine as a specialty within
medicine can be traced to the establishment of the Society of
Nuclear Medicine in the 1950s. Subsequently, the development of the
rectilinear scanner and the invention of the Anger camera in the
early 1960s made nuclear medicine a very useful tool in the
practice of medicine. The establishment of the American Board of Nuclear Medicine
(ABNM) ensured the field's viability. The ABNM sets the standard for recognition of individuals as
specialists in the field of nuclear medicine. The first board certification exam was administered in 1972.
The advent of computers greatly expanded the practice of
nuclear medicine since the mid 1980s. The original single-head cameras have been replaced with
two-, three- and four-headed scanners. Therefore, faster scanning with superb resolution is possible. In addition, one can now acquire
multi-slice and three-dimensional images. Different isotopes are being developed frequently, not only for diagnosis but also for the treatment of various diseases. The future of
nuclear medicine is enormous at the molecular and biochemical level of understanding pathological and physiological processes.
Nuclear Medicine
Sacred Heart Medical Center
1255 Hilyard St., Eugene
(541) 686-7010
Please call 686-7010 to
schedule your patient's exam.
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