Anna Chodorowska

Pozytonowa tomografia komputerowa (PET)
2010-02-10

Positron emission tomography (PET)
Positron emission tomography (PET) is one of the youngest, widely achievable, methods which connect diagnostic imaging with nuclear medicine. The base of the method is detecting pairs of gamma rays emitted during annihilation of a positron emitted by biologically active tracer. The most common radiotracer is glucose labeled with active fluorine isotope (FDG) with ~110 min half life time. Glucose cumulates in part of the body which have increased metabolism. For diagnostic purposes combined PET and CT or MR scanners are used. They allow correlating PET imaging with anatomy on the CT images. PET-CT scanners make the method more sensitive and precise and they shorten the time of examination. PET-CT examinations are used in oncology, cardiology, neurology, psychiatry and pharmacology
Keywords: Positron emission tomography (PET), oncology, cancer