Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography or SPECT is a functional imaging technique that can be used to acquire high resolution images of the brain. SPECT imaging is advantageous in detecting a traumatic brain injury after a fall or an accident. The basic objective of SPECT is to determine the areas in the brain which are functioning normally and those that are less active.
The images captured using SPECT can help to analyze the behavior and fuctioning of the brain after the head injury.
SPECT is a nuclear medical technology in which 3 Dimensional images of a specific part of the brain can be captured using a gamma camera. A very small quantity of radioisotope is injected in the patient’s body though a vein of the arm. The isotope decays and as a result gamma rays are emitted. The gamma rays spread and divide the brain into cross-functional areas and high quality images are taken. The gamma camera detects the presence of gamma rays and checks for the position where they originated. Once the location is known, a 3-D picture of the brain is constructed by collecting the gamma rays. The SPECT scan takes images of the vascular supply in the brain. When a brain tissue gets damaged, the blood supply to that tissue is stopped. Analyzing the SPECT images helps in locating damaged tissues or parts of the brain after the brain injury.
Advantages and Disadvantages of SPECT
There are some advantages of using Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography in traumatic brain injury cases:
- SPECT is an imaging technique that is easily and widely available.
- The radioisotope injected during SPECT imaging stays in the body of the patient for around 6 hours. This gives ample of time for taking images of the brain which is not the case in other imaging methods.
Even if SPECT is one of the most favored imaging techniques, it has some disadvantages as well:
- The accuracy of this technique is reduced when deep activity in the brain is to be measured.
- During the scan, a radioactive substance is introduced in the body. Although the radioactive isotope is very less in quantity and it leaves the body after some hours, the patient is exposed to radioactivity.
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