Medical Research Poster: PET Scans

A PET scan involves the painless injection of a small amount of a ‘positron-emitting’ radioactive material (called a radiopharmaceutical). Images of the body are then taken using a PET scanner. The camera detects emissions coming from the injected radiopharmaceutical, and the computer attached to the camera creates two and three-dimensional images of the area being examined.

Positron emission tomography (PET), imaging technique used in diagnosis and biomedical research. It has proved particularly useful for studying brain and heart functions and certain biochemical processes involving these organs

PET ­produces images of the body by detecting the radiation emitted from radioactive substances. These substances are injected into the body, and are usually tagged with a radioactive atom, such as Carbon-11, Fluorine-18, Oxygen-15, or Nitrogen-13, that has a short decay time.

A radiolabelled biological compound such as F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) is injected intravenously.

Uptake of this compound followed by further breakdown occurs in the cells. Tumor cells have a high metabolic rate, and hence this compound is also metabolized by tumor cells.