Nuclear imaging being well recognized for functional imaging suffers when it comes to showing anatomy structures due to lack of resolution. This limitation is greatly remedied in the new era of hybrid imaging on systems that combine nuclear imaging with CT or MRI. These systems utilize the best of two worlds, by providing high resolution anatomical CT or MRI images with the organs functional images fused on top of them.

Nuclear imaging procedures are carried out by injecting a dilution marker comprising a compound labeled with a radiopharmaceutical into the body of the patient to be examined. By choosing a compound that will accumulate in the organ to be imaged - compound concentration, pharmaceutical concentration, and photon emission can be substantially limited to the specific organ. To measure photon intensity a gamma camera detector is positioned adjacent the patient and focused in the direction of the organ. While the patient remains as still as possible, the detector detects photon emissions and creates a planar view of the organ. Typical planar imaging procedures are whole body imaging, imaging of the thyroid gland, kidneys, heart and bones.

Some of the most frequently used nuclear procedures require three-dimensional imaging. This is achieved by rotating the detector to acquire a plurality of images. The angle is incremented between each view so that the plurality of images can be used together to reconstruct pictures of transaxial slices of the organ. These procedures are known as SPECT (Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography) procedures and are typically used for myocardial perfusion imaging, imaging of lungs and brain.