Dr Max Zuber developed an expertise in this modality, and we have on site the only dedicated small animal-nuclear medicine veterinary facility in the southern hemisphere. He passes on his legacy to our current team, Dr Fernado Elias, who has a special interest in all things feline Medicine, and Dr Lisa Shaw

We also have on staff Ann Bernar, a qualified Nuclear Medicine Technologist, who while joining us at GVH, works in the human Nuclear Medicine field.

Nuclear medicine is a new diagnostic technique where radioisotopes are injected into the body to study various organ functions. Images of these functions are recorded using a gamma camera. Larger doses of radioisotopes are also given as a form of radiation therapy to treat some forms of cancer.

At GVH our main application for Nuclear Medicine is in the diagnosis and treatment of hyperthyroidism in cats.

The GVH team have experience in dealing in over 3,000 cases of this disease, and we treat 100-150 new patients from all over Australia each year.

Secondly, we see canine patients with thyroid cancer. It is a relatively rare and often fatal disease but treatment with radioactive iodine can often halt progress for an extended period of time. Bone cancer or Osteosarcoma in dogs is a devastating disease with an extremely high mortality rate. While cures for this disease are elusive, we have been using a radioisotope Samarium 153 to successfully alleviate the pain and temporarily stop the tumour growth in some dogs.

Lameness in dogs can sometimes be difficult to diagnose accurately and performing bone scans in these dogs can often highlight the problem where normal radiographic techniques have failed.