Whole-Body PET Imaging Methods

Abstract

PET instrumentation has been available for over 25 years, yet the clinical applications of PET largely languished until the past decade. As the impediments to clinical PET [1] have fallen, the clinical value of the technology has become widely recognized and PET is now emerging as a mainstream diagnostic imaging modality. Over the past five years it has become clear PET using the glucose metabolism tracer [ 18 F]-fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) will have a major role in the management of patients, particularly oncology patients. This has shaped the recent development of commercial PET tomographs and the evolution of clinical imaging protocols to accommodate rapid imaging of the whole-body (c.f., torso) in a clinical setting.