Patient schedule | Rigorous patient schedule | Flexible patient schedule |
| Acquisition at fixed time after injection | Additional imaging possible, depending on findings or motion |
| High predictability of acquisition time | |
Prescan preparation | Tracer administration | Checking of potential contraindications and renal insufficiency when gadolinium is used |
| Resting of patient during uptake time | Removal of all metal |
| With 18F-FDG, previous fasting and glucose level measurement | |
In-bed patient preparation | Very fast; only uploading of patient onto table | Placement of surface coils and headphones |
| Radiation exposure for staff while near patients | Time-consuming (3–5 min) |
Field of view | 45–60 cm transaxially | 35–45 cm transaxially |
| 15–21 cm axially | Up to 50 cm axially |
Planning | Straightforward | Experience for fine-tuning |
| Defining of field of view and time per bed position | Planning throughout scan |
| Planning by operator at start, with no further interaction | Frequent interaction with radiologist |
| | Often oblique plane acquisitions |
Acquisition | Step and shoot | Isocenter for optimal image quality |
| Overlapping of beds | Occasional need for bed motion even in examination of single organs |
Respiratory motion | Production of blurring | Frequent production of artifacts |
| Possibility of respiratory gating; increase of acquisition time to preserve image quality | Possibility of breath-hold acquisition or respiratory gating |