drspectscan.com
uszler@earthlink.net


imaging that empowers a person to optimal health and well be-ing©

J. Michael Uszler, M D, Medical Director of Nuclear Medicine at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center.

Connect with drspectscan.com to see the SPECT-rum of imaging technology that can include identifying key metabolic features and the prescriptions for the therapies and recovery from neurologic conditions, especially in children.

A major thrust of Dr. Uszler's focus is the imaging the human brain in health and disease. The primary technique that he uses is SPECT brain imaging. He was a featured participant in the First International Symposium on Cerebral Palsy, in Boca Raton, Florida on July 23-24, 1999. Dr. Richard Neubauer and he will be presenting information on imaging identification of hypoxic dormant neurons at the Neuro-imaging conference in Las Vegas, January 24-27, 2001.

Recently scientists have been examining the structure of Albert Einstein¹s brain. They expect that by looking at its anatomical structure they can figure out how it functioned to produce great thoughts.

Since the discovery of x-rays and radioactivity approximately 100 years ago medical imaging of the human body has focused primarily on physical appearance or structure. It is only within the last 40 years that medical imaging has also developed tools and techniques to look at how individual parts of the body are functioning.

SPECT imaging is the most commonly available direct way to evaluate the function of an organ or body system. At its most basic level it is imaging of the biology and chemistry of the living cells in the human body. A similar type of functional imaging is PET (Positron Emission Technology) scanning. This is a more complex imaging modality that is usually available only in major healthcare centers. A developing imaging technology is fMRI (functional MRI). This has more limited application and is not presently being used to evaluate therapeutic modalities such as Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.


Brain SPECT Imaging

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography of the Brain is a medical diagnostic imaging procedure in which a physiologic parameter, such as brain blood flow as an indicator of brain function is objectively determined. Thus it is different from a CAT scan or MRI scan which image onlythe anatomic pattern of the brain.

The SPECT brain scan is obtained by a gentle intravenous injection of approximately one teaspoonful of sterile saline which also contains a dose of radioactive tracer that is distributed to the brain in direct proportion to the brain¹s blood flow and function at the time of injection. The erson is resting in a quiet room at the time of injection. The scan procedure is performed 45 minutes later with a scanning camera that slow revolves around only the person¹s head. The sultant 360 degree volume is computer reconstructed into 3-D volume and cross-sectional ages. This data is also compared with a normal database. All of this data is reviewed by the Nuclear Medicine physician who renders the report of the person¹s brain blood flow and function status.