The first pass scintigraphy allows imaging of the first passage of a radiopharmaceutical through the heart or artery. After a bolus injection of the radioactive material, the first pass scintigraphy (or angiography) gives information over the cardiac circulation or blood supply in various organs.

(Scintillation Camera, Scintillation Gamma Camera, Gamma Scintillation Camera or Anger Gamma Camera) A gamma camera is an imaging device used in nuclear medicine to scan patients who have been injected, inhaled, or ingested with small amounts of radioactive materials emitting gamma rays. The gamma camera records the quantity and distribution of the radionuclide that is attracted to a specific organ or tissue of interest.
The first gamma camera was developed and introduced by Hal O. Anger in 1957/58. The structure hasn't changed by today. A gamma camera consists of:

Through this design the simultaneous registration of gamma ray photons is possible, the computer further allows dynamic imaging.

See also Pinhole, Elution, Center of Rotation, First Pass Scintigraphy, and Anger Hal Oscar.

Nuclear cardiology has a wide range of techniques that permit the accurate assessment of perfusion, metabolism, sympathetic innervation, and mechanical function of the heart.

Scintigraphic techniques of the heart include:
See also Echocardiography and Cardiovascular Imaging.

A perfusion scintigraphy records the organ blood circulation usually directly or during the first two minutes after the injection of a radioactive tracer.
Different types of radiopharmaceuticals are used, depending on the target organ.

Typical perfusion scans include:
See also First Pass Scintigraphy, Myocardial Scintigraphy, Heart Scintigraphy, Whole Body Scintigraphy, and Flare Phenomenon.

(GBPS) The gated blood pool scintigraphy is an examination to evaluate the ventricular performance. This scintigraphic blood pool imaging uses an electrocardiographic synchronizer or gating device to acquire data during repeated heart cycles at specific times in the heart cycle. Radionuclides, for example 99mTc-humanserumalbumin (HSA), are used as intravascular tracers.
GBPS allows to determinate the left ventricular function with heart minute volume, ejection fraction (EF) at rest and under exercise. Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) versus planar scintigraphic imaging improves cardiac evaluation due to the three dimensional nature. The GBPS method is not suitable to analyze the right ventricular function; that is best evaluated by first-pass ventriculography.
Echocardiography vs. GBPS has important disadvantages due to problems in quantitative evaluation, in patients with anatomic variations and dyskinetic left ventricles.

See also Myocardial Perfusion Imaging.