PET (Position Emission Tomography)

PET (Position Emission Tomography)

A brain imaging technique that maps active brain areas via an injection of 2-deoxyglucose, which emits positrons when taken up by actively metabolizing cells. During the test, the tracer liquid is put into a vein (intravenous, or IV) in your arm. The tracer moves through your body, where much of it collects in the specific organ or tissue. The tracer gives off tiny positively charged particles (positrons). The camera records the positrons and turns the recording into pictures on a computer.

PET scan pictures do not show as much detail as computed tomography (CT) scans or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) because the pictures show only the location of the tracer. The PET picture may be matched with those from a CT scan to get more detailed information about where the tracer is located.

A PET scan is often used to find cancer, to check blood flow, or to see how organs are working.

www.ualberta.ca/~neuro/OnlineIntro/glossary.htm

Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a test that uses a special type of camera and a tracer (radioactive chemical) to look at organs in the body.

www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/positron-emission-tomography

K A Solaman
Saturday, March 28, 2009