Resources

About PET/CT

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) coupled with Computed Tomography (CT) (PET/CT) in a single unit (gantry) nuclear medicine/molecular imaging procedure which allows for sequential images from both devices to be acquired in a single session and fused together. Following the injection of a radiotracer, PET/CT imaging provides a high quality non-invasive diagnostic assessment of several disease processes on a molecular and cellar level and provides anatomical as well as functional information. PET/CT procedures can be performed for a variety of clinical scenarios and applications including cardiology, oncology, and neurology, and have become a highly reliable and preferred imaging procedure used in the evaluation and management of patients.

PET/CT is able to:

• Provide information that cannot be obtained with other imaging technologies or would require more invasive procedures such as biopsy or surgery
• Identify disease in its earliest stages and provide evaluation during the course of treatment
• Determine the exact location of a tumor, often before symptoms occur or abnormalities can be detected with other diagnostic tests
• Determine the extent and severity of the disease as well as identify progression over time
• Provide information to guide selection of the most effective therapy based on specific patient characteristics and specific molecular properties of the identified tumor or disease process
• Determine a patient’s response to medical therapies and accurately assess the effectiveness of treatment regimens
• Allow for adaptation of treatment planning is response to changes in cell activity