World of PET/What is PET?




		History \| How PET Works \| What PET Sees \| PET Diagnosis PET is a powerful diagnostic test that is having a major impact on the diagnosis and treatment of disease. Because disease is a biological process, and PET is a biological imaging examination, PET can detect and stage most cancers, often before they are evident through other tests. PET can also give physicians important early information about heart disease and many neurological disorders, like Alzheimer's. A PET scan examines your body's chemistry. Most common medical tests, like CT and MR scans, only show details about the structure of your body. PET is different. It also provides information about function. With a single PET procedure, physicians can collect images of function throughout the entire body, uncovering abnormalities that might otherwise go undetected. For example, a PET scan is the most accurate, non-invasive way to tell whether or not a tumor is benign or malignant, sparing patients expensive, often painful diagnostic surgeries and suggesting treatment options earlier in the course of the disease. And although cancer spreads silently in the body, PET can inspect all organs of the body for cancer in a single examination!

		The first primarily used commercial PET scanner was introduced in 1975. In the 70's and 80's PET was mainly used for research. During the early 90's PET expanded into hospitals, diagnostic clinics, mobile systems and physician practices as more and more of the medical community began to realize the utility of PET. PET began in the 70's as a research tool. The technology advanced from digital coincidence to 3-D images in the 80's. Then in the late 90's a new detector material was invented called LSO (Lutetium Oxyorthosilicate). In 2000, a combination PET/CT scanner went into production providing the physician and the patient with the most complete and accurate image, as well as the hightest quality diagnostics within a single scan.

		When disease strikes, the biochemistry of your tissues and cells changes. In cancer, for example, cells begin to grow at a much faster rate, feeding on sugars like glucose. PET works by using a small amount of a tracer drug chemically attached to glucose or other compounds. You are injected with the tracer. It travels through your body emitting signals and eventually collects in the organs targeted for examination. If an area in an organ is cancerous, the signals will be stronger than in the surrounding tissue. A scanner records these signals and transforms them into pictures of chemistry and function.

		PET is able to detect extremely small cancerous tumors and very subtle changes of function in the brain and heart. This allows physicians to treat these diseases earlier and more accurately. A PET scan puts time on your side! The earlier the diagnosis, the better chance for treatment. PET gives patients hope.

		PET is used to diagnose and stage patients with cancer, as well as patients with certain brain and heart disorders. In cancer, PET can: distinguish benign from malignant tumors stage cancer by showing metastases anywhere in your body prove whether or not treatment therapies are working In the brain, PET can: positively diagnose Alzheimer's disease for early intervention locate tumors in the brain and distinguish tumor from scar tissue locate the focus of seizures for some patients with epilepsy more accurately assess tumor and other sites in the brain for delicate surgery In the heart, PET can: quantify the extent of heart disease determine, after a heart attack, if the heart muscle would benefit from surgery