Technetium Scan

Uptake of tracer doses of technetium is an essential test in thyroid disease. It is injected into a vein and then binds to receptors on the thyroid cells. This therefore allows the thyroid gland to be imaged on X-ray scanning, producing better quality pictures than with a radioactive iodine tracer. However, it is less accurate at demonstrating areas of reduced function in the thryoid and therefore may miss a 'cold' nodule. Otherwise, the patterns produced are essentially the same as those seen using radioactive iodine (see 'Radioactive Iodine Test')