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PET.THE 'DARLING'
OF
MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC
IMAGING
PET (Positron
Emission
Tomography)
has been hailed as the
top
of
the
ten
technological innovations
in
the
90s.
Because
of
its
specific
properties, it is
currently
the
leading
medical diagnostic imaging
device.
Almost
all
other medical cross-sectional
scanning techniques
give only
structural
changes
that
have resulted
from
disease and display them on various
cross-sections.
PET, on the
other hand,
is
able
to
give a whole-body functional
status
of
the organ or tissues that
are
also displayed
on cross-sections.
The
main application
of
PET is in oncology
patients
to demonstrate the spread of
cancers or the state
of
recurrence or
residual disease so
that
appropriate
surgical,
radiation
therapy
and/or
che-
motherapy modalities may be planned
appropriately. PET
is also
useful for
demonstrating the status
of
the heart
muscles after infarcts, so that further
appropriate treatments
may be
planned
accordingly.
Lastly
but not
the
least,
PET
is
also
useful
for
neurology
assessments, e.9., localizing the focus
of
epilepsy within the
brain and for
early
diagnosis
of
Parkinson's disease
or
dementia. Usually, a cyclotron gener-
ates radioactive glucose that
is
injected
into
the veins and thence taken
up by
tissues
that
metabolize
the
radioactive
glucose. Depending on the degree of
"uptake"
as
documented
by the
amount
of
radioactivity,
meaningful interpreta-
tions are
rendered by radiologists with
the
relevant and specific training.
PET
(Position
Emission
Tomography)
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