PET/CT today: system and its impact on cancer diagnosis

Ann Nucl Med. 2006 May;20(4):255-67. doi: 10.1007/BF02984642.

Abstract

Over the past six years, PET/CT has spread rapidly and replaced conventional PET. Although PET/CT is a combination of PET for functional information and CT for morphological information, their combination is synergistic. PET/CT fusion images result in higher diagnostic accuracy with fewer equivocal findings. This results in a greater impact on cancer diagnosis. With attenuation correction performed by the CT component, PET/CT can provide higher quality images over shorter examination times than conventional PET. As with all modalities, PET/CT has several characteristic artifacts such as misregistration due to respiration, overattenuation correction due to metals, etc. Awareness of these pitfalls will help the imaging physician use PET/CT effectively in daily practice.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Humans
  • Image Enhancement / instrumentation*
  • Image Enhancement / methods*
  • Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted / methods
  • Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Positron-Emission Tomography / instrumentation*
  • Positron-Emission Tomography / methods*
  • Positron-Emission Tomography / trends
  • Subtraction Technique
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / instrumentation*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / methods*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed / trends