The heart is the main pumping organ of the blood circulation system and one of the basic organs of the human body. The heart has four chambers in it and is made up of a number of valves. The heart muscles are designed to pump continuously throughout the life of an individual without any breaks. If the heart stops pumping, the individual will die within a few moments of this happening. Cardiac problems are caused by a number of different factors such as stress, poor diet, genetics, obesity and a general lack of exercise and health maintenance.
A gated cardiac scan is a relatively old method of checking the functioning of the heart. The gated cardiac scan remains one of the popular methods of evaluating the functions of the heart. The gated cardiac test is part of a nuclear medicine and is conducted using a gated cardiac scanner that picks up radiation from the heart. In order to generate this radiation, red blood cells marked with a radioactive substance need to be injected into the body. These red blood cells will eventually flow to the heart. The beating cycle of the heart is such that the blood passes through all four chambers of the heart. As this happens, the radio-tagged blood will fill each chamber of the heart.
When this happens, the scanner will be able to pick up the radiation from the tagged cells. The blood filled with the radioactive markers will fill each chamber of the heart. This makes it possible to determine the shape and size of each chamber of the heart. This also makes it possible to determine the strength with which the pumping action takes place in each chamber. The functioning of the valves of the heart can also be determined in this way. Scanning using a gated cardiac scanner takes place for several minutes. Although the gated cardiac scan is an old technique, it has been modernized with the use of computer graphics. Based on the information and images received during a gated cardiac scan, the computer can produce a three dimensional image of the pumping of the heart. This image can be analyzed by a doctor or a team of doctors to determine the state of the organ. The cardiac gated blood pool scan is another medical test that could be conducted which helps understand the reasons behind the pooling of blood in the heart when the body is at rest or during exercise. Besides this the gated cardiac ultrasound and the gated cardiac MRI scans are some of the other gated cardiac checks that could also be conducted.
Abnormalities and blockages can be detected using a gated cardiac scan. Following this, the further course of treatment will be determined by the team of doctors.