The fourth edition of Clinical Nuclear Medicine highlights the continued growth in clinical applications for PET and other aspects of molecular imaging. With its problem-oriented clinical approach, the book presents relevant topics of current importance to the practicing clinician rather than providing a comprehensive review of all technical and basic science aspects. An initial section covers the broad principles and scope of important areas that are considered to have impacted more significantly on current and future clinical practice since the last edition. The second section covers all the clinical systems where nuclear medicine helps current clinical practice, while a third section covers a number of relevant technical topics.

Nuclear medicine is the bridge between a particular clinical problern and a relevant test using radionuclides. It began as a minor technical tool used in a few branches of medicine, notably endocrinology and nephrology. However, throughout the world it has now become established as a clinical discipline in its own right, with specific training programmes, special skills and a particular approach to patient management. Although the practising nuclear medicine physician must necessarily learn a great deal of basic science and technology, a sound medical training and a clinical approach to the subject remains of fundamental importance. It is for this reason that we have attempted in this book to approach the subject from a clinical standpoint, including where necessary relevant physiological material. There exist many excellent texts which cover the basic science and technology of nuclear medicine. We have, therefore, severely limited our coverage of these aspects of the subject to matters which we felt tobe essential, particularly those which have been less well covered in other texts- for example, the contents of Chapter 20 on Measurement by Royal and McNeill. Similarly, we have limited details of methodology to skeletal summaries of protocol (Appendix 1) and have included at the end of some chapters descriptions of particular techniques where we and the authors felt that it would be helpful.

The Institute of Nuclear Medicine, founded in 1961, celebrates with this Festschrift, its Golden Jubilee. It has been a remarkable 50 years of progress of the radionuclide tracer methodology. From initial, physiology based experimentation, a full independent medical discipline evolved, and with it, a comprehensive clinical service. Diagnosis and Treatment with radiotracers have established the basis for Nuclear Medicine. Technological advances have permeated the field like none other, its multidisciplinary character and its translational research are embedded in the history of the Institute and its success. Recent and latest advances in the field promise a future as bright as has been witnessed and documented in the last 50 years.

First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.

The British Nuclear Medicine Society celebrates its 50th Anniversary with this booklet, which reflects the research of many of the pioneers in the use of radionuclides for the diagnosis and therapy of human disease. Since 1949 there have been remarkable advances in radionuclide techniques and imaging equipment: from the first devices “home-made” in the many physics departments throughout the UK, to the sophisticated multimodality imagers now in everyday use in Nuclear Medicine. The BNMS has been instrumental in promoting the use of radionuclide techniques in the investigation of pathology by supporting and providing education, research and guidelines on the optimum use of radiation to help patients. The future of Nuclear Medicine is bright, thanks to improved imaging resolution, new radiopharmaceuticals, and new diagnostic and therapeutic techniques and procedures.