PET (Positron Emission Tomography) and CT (Computed Tomography) devices are used together to get metabolic and anatomical data about organs. Positron emission tomography (PET) is an imaging test that assists determine how your tissues and organs function. The PET scan uses a radioactive drug (tracer) to demonstrate this activity.
This tracer can be injected in the body, swallowed or inhaled, depending on the organ or tissue to be examined by PET scanning. The tracer is collected in body areas with a high level of chemical activity, often corresponding to disease areas. In a PET scan, these areas appear as bright spots. The PET CT scan is useful in detecting or evaluating a variety of disorders, including certain cancers, heart disease, and brain disorders.
Why PET / CT Scanning?
PET CT scan in Delhi is an effective way to detect chemical activity in body areas. Some cancers can help identify various disorders, including heart disease and brain disorders. Images obtained from PET scanning provide different information than those obtained by other scanning methods like computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A PET scan or combined CT-PET scan will allow your doctor to better diagnose your condition.
Cancer
Since cancer cells have a higher metabolic rate than normal cells, they appear as bright spots in PET scans. PET scans may be useful for:
- Detection of cancer
- Detecting whether your cancer has spread
- To check whether cancer treatment works.
- Determination of cancer recurrence.
PET scans should be interpreted with caution because non-cancerous disorders appear to be cancerous and many types of cancer do not appear in PET scans.
Heart disease
PET scans can show areas in the heart where blood flow is reduced: This information can help you and your doctor in deciding whether you will benefit from a procedure to open a clot-blocked heart artery (angioplasty) or coronary artery bypass surgery.
Brain disorders
PET CT scan in Delhi can be used to assess specific brain disorders, such as:
- Tumours
- Alzheimer's disease
- Seizures
What are the advantages and risks associated with PET/CT?
Benefits
Nuclear medicine examinations provide specific information that cannot often be obtained by other imaging methods, including information about both the body's function and anatomical structure.
Nuclear medicine examinations provide the most useful information for diagnosing and, if available, determining the appropriate treatment for many diseases.
Nuclear medicine is less costly than surgical exploration and can provide more accurate information.
Nuclear medicine often offers the potential to detect disease at the earliest stage before symptoms appear or abnormalities are detected by other diagnostic tests.
PET scans can detect the possibility of benign or malignant lesions, eliminating the need for surgical biopsy or identifying the best biopsy site.
PET scans may also provide additional information used in radiation therapy planning.
