The diffusion of a vanguard technique: the case of nuclear medicine in Belgium

How does a new technology spread across a country? Which are the factors influencing its spreading across time and space? We have attempted to answer to those questions through the example of nuclear medicine. We have used a macro-economic approach, based on regional and diachronic data (43 areas and three larger 'regions' from 1974 to 1982). Two separate fields have taken advantage of the use of radioisotopes: in vivo and in vitro tests. The rates of growth of those two techniques have been completely different and their future evolution will probably also be in sharp contrast. On the contrary, the regional distribution of the utilization rates is similar in both fields: it seems related to the density of specialists who are accessible for the patients and also to the regional ways of practice which feature the prescription of other types of tests.