About us

A nuclear medicine scan is painless. The amount of radiation we use in our tests is very low, similar to having an X-ray.

For most tests, you will be given a small amount of a tracer called a radiopharmaceutical. Usually you will be given this by injection. Sometimes you will eat, drink or breath it in. 

The amount of time that you have to wait between being given the tracer and having your scan varies. You may have your scan immediately or have to wait for a few hours. In some cases, you may have to wait for 24 to 48 hours.

We use a special camera to capture an image of the radiation, which is invisible to the human eye. Seeing where and how the radiopharmaceuticals concentrate in your organs and tissues can give us information about how your body is working.

Sometimes we also use nuclear medicine as a treatment. For example, in some cancers, we can use nuclear medicine to deliver a dose of radiation directly to the cancer cells in your body. The dose of radiation used in treatment is much higher than the dose used for tests.

Our services

We provide the following services:

• Biliary scans
• Bone scans
• Brain SPECT scans
• Carbon 14 breath tests
• Colonic transit studies
• Gallium scans
• Gastric emptying studies
• GFR studies
• GI bleed studies
• Heat damaged red cell studies
• Haemangioma studies
• Liver spleen scans
• Leveen shunt studies
• Lymphoscintigraphy studies
• Meckel's scans
• Myocardial infarct studies
• Myocardial rest/redistribution studies
• Myocardial stress tests 
• Oesophageal swallow studies
• Red blood cell volume studies
• Parathyroid study
• Renal captopril scans
• Renal scans
• Renal and GFR studies
• RNVG scans
• Thyroid scans
• VQ lung scans
• White blood cell studies

Related services

• Molecular imaging & therapy

  We perform specialised scans that allow us to see what's happening in your body at the level of your cells and molecules.

• PET scans

  We take medical images of the inside of your body to show how your organs and tissues are working.

• Cancer & wellness

  We provide comprehensive cancer services at the Austin Hospital, Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre, and in the community.

• Liver & digestive diseases

  We care for and treat people for conditions of the liver, pancreas and digestive system.

Referrals

For patients

You need a referral from your GP, specialist or health care provider to access this service.

For health professionals

Requests for studies are accepted on your own stationery.

Otherwise please email or fax the referral form below.

Reports are delivered via HealthLink.

An on-call service is offered 24 hours a day, seven days a week including public holidays.

All requests for out-of-hours work are discussed with the on-call Nuclear Medicine registrar or physician, who can be contact via Austin Health Switchboard on 9496 5000.

If your patient has had previous Nuclear Medicine or relevant Radiology studies performed elsewhere, we ask that these are brought to their appointment for comparison. If these are not at hand, then we may contact the previous service provider for copies.

Contact us

Nuclear Medicine

Phone: 03 9496 5718

Fax: 03 9496 5630

Email: enquiriesmit@austin.org.au

Open hours: Monday to Friday 8.00am - 5.00pm

Director

Professor Andrew Scott
Medical & Scientific Director, Molecular Imaging & Therapy

Location

Level 1, Harold Stokes Building
Austin Hospital
145 Studley Road
Heidelberg VIC

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Postal address

Nuclear Medicine
Austin Hospital
PO Box 5555
Heidelberg VIC 3084
Australia