PET Imaging

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear imaging technology (also referred to as molecular imaging) that enables visualization of metabolic processes in the body. The basics of PET imaging is that the technique detects pairs of gamma rays emitted indirectly by a positron-emitting radionuclide (also called radiopharmaceuticals, radionuclides or radiotracer). The tracer is injected into a vein on a biologically active molecule, usually a sugar that is used for cellular energy. PET systems have sensitive detector panels to capture gamma ray emissions from inside the body and use software to plot to triangulate the source of the emissions, creating 3-D computed tomography images of the tracer concentrations within the body.