After years of postgraduate training, many physicians have forgotten some (or most) of their undergraduate and high school physics and may find submersion into nuclear physics somewhat daunting. This book begins with a very basic introduction to nuclear physics and the interactions of radiation and matter.

It then proceeds with discussions of nuclear medicine instrumentation used for production

of nuclides, measurement of doses, surveying radioactivity, and imaging (including SPECT,

PET, and PET-CT). The final chapters cover radiation biology, radiation safety, and radiation

accidents.

Numerous illustrations are included. They are highly schematic and are designed to illustrate concepts rather than represent scale models of their subjects. This text is intended for radiology residents, cardiology fellows, nuclear medicine fellows, nuclear medicine technology students, and others interested in an introduction to concepts in nuclear medicine physics and instrumentation.