The images below are from a person that was evaluated for hepatobiliary disease. He received an intravenous injection of a technetium-labeled compound that is rapidly cleared from the circulation by uptake in the liver and excretion in bile. Technetium Tc 99m is a short-lived radionuclide that can be localized in the living person using a "gamma camera" that detects the gamma ray emissions.

The first graphic below shows a composite labeled image to help orient you anatomically - the large black spot on both sides is the gallbladder, which is surrounded by a lighter grey mass which is the liver.

Below the labeled image are a pair of animations, each of which is constructed from 12 pictures taken 2 minutes apart:

• Left animation shows images taken shortly after injection of the radiolabeled tracer. As the frames progress, you can see the gallbladder (black spot) fill as radioactive material is secreted into bile and floods in.
• Right animation shows images after the gallbladder was filled. Emptying was stimulated by an injection of cholecystokinin (that frame marked with "CCK") and shortly thereafter you can see a enlarging black streak representing the common bile duct appear below the gallbladder. As the streak becomes visible, the black spot representing the gallbladder decreases in size and almost disappears as bile is squeezed into the small intestine.

As it turned out, this person's liver and biliary system were OK. He was sent home with a sucker for being a good patient.