RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 First Human Imaging Studies with the EXPLORER Total-Body PET Scanner*
JF Journal of Nuclear Medicine
JO J Nucl Med
FD Society of Nuclear Medicine
SP 299
OP 303
DO 10.2967/jnumed.119.226498
VO 60
IS 3
A1 Ramsey D. Badawi
A1 Hongcheng Shi
A1 Pengcheng Hu
A1 Shuguang Chen
A1 Tianyi Xu
A1 Patricia M. Price
A1 Yu Ding
A1 Benjamin A. Spencer
A1 Lorenzo Nardo
A1 Weiping Liu
A1 Jun Bao
A1 Terry Jones
A1 Hongdi Li
A1 Simon R. Cherry
YR 2019
UL http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/60/3/299.abstract
AB Within the EXPLORER Consortium, the construction of the world’s first total-body PET/CT scanner has recently been completed. The 194-cm axial field of view of the EXPLORER PET/CT scanner is sufficient to cover, for the first time, the entire human adult body in a single acquisition in more than 99% of the population and allows total-body pharmacokinetic studies with frame durations as short as 1 s. The large increase in sensitivity arising from total-body coverage as well as increased solid angle for detection at any point within the body allows whole-body 18F-FDG PET studies to be acquired with unprecedented count density, improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the resulting images. Alternatively, the sensitivity gain can be used to acquire diagnostic PET images with very small amounts of activity in the field of view (25 MBq, 0.7 mCi or less), with very short acquisition times (∼1 min or less) or at later time points after the tracer’s administration. We report here on the first human imaging studies on the EXPLORER scanner using a range of different protocols that provide initial evidence in support of these claims. These case studies provide the foundation for future carefully controlled trials to quantitatively evaluate the improvements possible through total-body PET imaging.