| Positron emission tomography, or PET, is a unique medical imaging approach that scans how the body is working, or functioning, in a living human (in vivo). This means that unlike a computed tomography (CT) scan, which just shows body structure (anatomy), PET scans show actual body function, making it a useful tool in such areas as cancer and brain research. A small amount of radioactive material is injected into the bloodstream of a patient. This material is taken up by the brain, heart, and certain cancerous tumors. The PET scanner measures the location of radioactive substances in the body and a computer translates the information into images. These images allow physicians and researchers to diagnose cancer, and other, neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, months or years before a clinical diagnoses could have been made.
For more information about PET, visit our Research section, or see Related Sites.
|
|
