How PET Works

• The patient is injected intravenously with a small amount of sugar labelled with radiotracer.
• The sugar will distribute through the body, and because cancerous tissues feed abnormally on sugar, the affected cells and organs process more of the labelled sugar.
• The PET scanner records the signals emitted from the tracer at disease sites.
• The computer reconstructs the patterns of detected signals into 3-dimensional pictures of the body.
• A qualified nuclear medicine physician analyzes the image.
• The procedure takes about two hours with the patient spending less than one hour on the scanner.

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PET Facts

• Is safe and non-invasive, producing no side-effects.
• Can replace multiple medical testing procedures with a single exam.
• Shows all the organ systems of the body (from head to groin).
• Often diagnoses disease before it shows up on other tests.
• May reduce or eliminate ineffective or unnecessary surgical or medical treatments and hospitalization.
• Shows the progress of disease and how the body responds to treatment.
• In a world of limited resources, PET saves time, saves money, and, most importantly, saves lives.

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Brochures

PET - The Power of Molecular Imaging (2.5 MB pdf)

"...is a colorful 12 page brochure that describes positron emission tomography, its clinical uses and applications."

Imaging For Hope - Women's Voices for PET (5.2 MB pdf)

"...is an extraordinary brochure featuring several women who share some amazing stories of how PET imaging dramatically changed their treatments for cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's."

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