http://tomographyblog.com/2007/06/24/moving-towards-the-future-petct/ Radiology and Nuclear Medicine Fri, 16 Jul 2010 08:44:26 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://tomographyblog.com/2007/06/24/moving-towards-the-future-petct/#comment-48 What tomorrow brings? « Indulge in the fascinating world of Mon, 22 Oct 2007 22:23:32 +0000 http://tomography.wordpress.com/2007/06/24/moving-towards-the-future-petct/#comment-48 [...] Since then, his invention went through a great evolution. Just take a look at the latets X-ray machines. They look nice, they work fine… They simply do not cover. As time went by, came new ideas, so we have CT and MRI in our hands (for many years fortunatelly). CT and MRI are sensitive in defining that disease is present, but they aren’t specific in determining what particular type of disease may be present. PET was the answer as it really brought it’s dramatic change. The increased metabolic activity not only confirms that cancer is present but provides evidence of staging or metastasis beyond the primary. Utilization of PET began in the 1990s. (SPECT has been around for daceades, preferred over PET in cardiac cases.) PET and SPECT are both basic gadgets in nuclear medicine, which combines chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer technology, and medicine in using radioactivity to diagnose and treat disease. Nuclear medicine procedures are safe, they involve little or no patient discomfort and do not require the use of anesthesia. Finally, CT-MRI and PET-SPECT found each other in a good working marriage, so one of today’s high-end stuff is PET-CT. [...] [...] Since then, his invention went through a great evolution. Just take a look at the latets X-ray machines. They look nice, they work fine… They simply do not cover. As time went by, came new ideas, so we have CT and MRI in our hands (for many years fortunatelly). CT and MRI are sensitive in defining that disease is present, but they aren’t specific in determining what particular type of disease may be present. PET was the answer as it really brought it’s dramatic change. The increased metabolic activity not only confirms that cancer is present but provides evidence of staging or metastasis beyond the primary. Utilization of PET began in the 1990s. (SPECT has been around for daceades, preferred over PET in cardiac cases.) PET and SPECT are both basic gadgets in nuclear medicine, which combines chemistry, physics, mathematics, computer technology, and medicine in using radioactivity to diagnose and treat disease. Nuclear medicine procedures are safe, they involve little or no patient discomfort and do not require the use of anesthesia. Finally, CT-MRI and PET-SPECT found each other in a good working marriage, so one of today’s high-end stuff is PET-CT. [...]

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