PET/CT is a diagnostic imaging system that combines PET and CT into one unit. PET (Positron Emission Tomography) utilizes a low-level radiopharmaceutical to visualize metabolic activity within the body. CT stands for Computed Tomography (otherwise known as a “Cat Scan”). This technique uses x-rays to make cross-sectional images (called slices) of your body. The structure of body organs is more clearly visualized than with conventional x-rays. The PET/CT combines both functional and anatomical information into one single scan. This allows your doctor the ability to pinpoint the exact location of interest and determine its functional status.

Advanced system software in the Siemen’s biograph PET/CT combines the anatomical information obtained from CT with the functional PET information to form not a photograph, but a biograph - an image that records living tissues and life processes with great precision and detail.

One of the most important factors in the fight against disease is early detection. Therefore, a PET/CT scan provides your doctor with information that may help to specify and improve any treatment that you require and possibly even reduce the risk of surgical procedures.

If possible, try to wear loose-fitting clothes on the day of your scan, and avoid caffeine so you won’t be restless. During the scan, all you have to do is relax, and lie as still as you can. You will first receive a small injection of a radiopharmaceutical contrast about 60 minutes before the actual scan. It will not make you feel any different. Depending on the type of study, you may also receive a contrast medium at the time of the CT portion. This is a dye that increases the quality of the CT images. The contrast medium may be administered orally, or by injection, or both. Some patients report a warm feeling or an unusual taste in their mouth from the contrast medium.

Plan on being at our facility for approximately 2 – 2 ½ hours from the time you check to the time you leave our facility following your examination. You will be given an injection of a radiopharmaceutical and requested to relax in a quiet area while the injection circulates and the uptake occurs. This period lasts approximately an hour. The entire PET/CT examination is generally performed in less than a half hour, providing comprehensive diagnostic information to the clinicians and attending physicians quickly.

When it is time for your scan, you will be asked to lie on the patient table, which moves through the PET/CT scanner. The CT portion of the machine may make some whirring and clicking noises. It is important to lie quietly and be as still as you can during the examination.

PET and CT are both valuable diagnostic tools in their own right, but in the case of the Siemen’s biograph PET/CT, the sum of these two technologies is greater than the individual parts. CT (Computed Tomography) creates images with extreme anatomical detail. However, CT does not show the living processes taking place in the body. PET (Positron Emission Tomography) images reveal much about the living processes in the body, but lack the detail to pinpoint the exact location which these processes are taking place.

That’s where PET/CT comes in. A PET scan may reveal the existence of a tumor, but not it’s precise location in the tissue. The biograph image, with its anatomical detail, allows the physician to detect the tumor and know its exact location. The benefits to the patient are multiple - earlier diagnosis, accurate staging and localization, precise treatment and precise patient monitoring. It may interest you to know that the Siemen’s biograph PET/CT was selected by TIME magazine as one of its Inventions of the Year for 2000.