ABNM Nuclear Medicine study guide
ABNM Nuclear Medicine · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The American Board of Nuclear Medicine (ABNM) is a certifying board whose stated purpose is "Ensuring high-quality patient care by establishing standards in Nuclear Medicine." Initial certification is intended for physicians who have completed the training pathway ABNM recognizes and who wish to be examined and certified in nuclear medicine; the board separately administers continuing certification for diplomates who already hold its credential. The certification examination is a multiple-choice, computer-delivered test sampling the full breadth of the specialty. The ABNM Nuclear Medicine study guide has 5 sections and about 1,411 words.
01Physics, Instrumentation, and Radiation Safety
A candidate must connect decay kinetics to imaging performance. Activity follows A = A0e−λt with λ = ln2/T½; mean life is 1/λ, not T½.
273 words, about 1 min02Radiopharmaceuticals and Radiochemistry
Tc-99m is eluted from a Mo-99/Tc-99m generator; Mo-99 breakthrough and aluminum breakthrough are tested before use. Radiopharmaceutical quality has several distinct dimensions: radionuclidic purity (fraction of activity in the desired radionuclide), radiochemical purity (fraction in the desired chemical form), chemical purity (absence of interfering chemicals), and specific activity (activity per mass).
291 words, about 1 min03Diagnostic Planar and SPECT Imaging
Planar imaging projects three-dimensional activity onto a two-dimensional detector; SPECT reconstructs tomographic slices from multiple projections. Know the trade-offs among collimator, matrix size, pixel size, count density, and reconstruction filter.
274 words, about 1 min04PET/CT and Molecular Imaging
PET detects coincidence 511-keV annihilation photons produced when a positron meets an electron. Time-of-flight (TOF) improves localization, and attenuation correction is essential for quantification.
268 words, about 1 min05Radionuclide Therapy and Clinical Management
Radionuclide therapy uses unsealed sources to deliver absorbed dose to target tissue while limiting normal-organ toxicity. Understand the differences among I-131 for hyperthyroidism and differentiated thyroid cancer, Lu-177 dotatate for somatostatin-receptor tumors, Lu-177 PSMA for prostate cancer, Y-90 microspheres for hepatic tumors, and Ra-223 for bone metastases.
305 words, about 2 min