World isotope shortage threatens scans
Due to its short "lifespan", molybdenum 99 (used to form technetium-99m which, when injected into patients is used as a tracer to help diagnose heart disease or bone cancer) cannot be stockpiled.
Nuclear medicine
PET-CT for radiation therapy planning:
For individualised radiotherapy, high-precision delineation and characterisation of the tumour is critical. If highest radiation doses are delivered in a targeted fashion, the chance of tumour cell kill increases and tumour control probability is enhanced.
POCI: an intra-operative imaging probe for sentinel node localisation
Growing interest in sentinel lymph node (SLN) detection has led to its use in many clinical centres. The most successful protocols for localisation of SLNs are those that include preliminary lymphoscintigraphy performed with a conventional gamma-camera. In the absence of a nuclear medicine department, SLN protocols using only an intra-operative counting probe are generally less efficient. To…
Quantitative PET imaging
Visual analysis of PET scans for non-Hodgkin lymphoma may be improved by using standardised uptake value in monitoring response to treatment, according to research published in the Journal of Nuclear Medicine.
2007 Congress will welcome radiologists to Vienna
The European Congress of Radiology (ECR) is a never-ending story of surprises, excitement, and success. Year after year, more scientists, radiologists eager to learn, and partners from industrial companies flock to this excellent meeting.
What's new in PET technology?
Positron emission tomography (PET) is a fancy tool for metabolic imaging. This week Tom Lewellen from the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle takes a detailed look on what is to expect of the recent developments in PET detector technology.
Interview • Nuclear imaging
SPECT-CT versus PET-CT: The 'little sister'?
When it was suggested, during our interview with Dr Torsten Kuwert, Director and Professor of Clinical Nuclear Medicine, Clinic of Nuclear Medicine, at Friedrich-Alexander University Hospital, Erlangen, that SPECT-CT is the little sister of PET-CT, and that he might have preferred to install the ‘big brother’, Dr Kuwert pointed out the greater cost of PET, explaining: ‘The isotopes are more…
Contrast agents
Generating targeting agents for diagnostics, prognostics and radiotherapy, by designing biochemically specific elements in contrast agents to be the targeting molecules attached to and carrying diagnostic or radiotherapeutic molecules to abnormal cells.
1st 64-slice combined PET-VCT scanners go to work
During the annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine, in California this June, GE Healthcare announced the first installations of its new Discovery VCT - described as “the world's first true 64-slice combination positron emission tomography and volume computed tomography (PET/CT) system.”
The RSNA 2005
Late in November and into early December, as icy air streamed over the shores of Lake Michigan - affirming the nickname `windy city´ for Chicago - radiologists continued to immigrate here en masse for their biggest annual gathering. This year the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) held its 91st annual meeting, parallel with the scientific congress and trade fair. The exhibition alone…