Scintigraphies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A collection of images generated through a medical imaging technique that uses radioactive substances to visualize physiological functions in organs
2. A series of diagnostic pictures obtained by detecting gamma radiation emitted from a radioactive tracer in the body, highlighting areas of interest
3. An assemblage of images acquired during a scintigraphy procedure, which assesses the function and distribution of blood or other substances within the body

Etymology: "Scintigraphies" is the plural of "scintigraphy," a term built from two parts. The first comes from Latin "scintilla," a spark, which gave English "scintillation," the tiny flash of light produced when radiation strikes certain crystals. The second, "-graphy," comes from Greek "graphia," meaning writing or recording. Together they describe a picture recorded from those flashes. Gamma rays from the tracer in the body trigger these flashes in a detector, and the counts are mapped into an image where brighter areas show where the tracer has collected. A series of such images is what the plural names.