February 24, 2010

Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and the Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute are celebrating the successful launch of their latest joint venture, clinical PET imaging and PET research. While many think this imaging technique is a very recent discovery the first Positron scanner was built in the 1950’s at the University of Pennsylvania by putting two simple nuclear detectors together. This was almost 12 years before the CT was developed and 34 years before the MRI was approved for human use.

Positron Emission Tomography also know as PET imaging or as a PET scan is a branch of Nuclear Medicine using a small amount of radioactive material to image various organs or systems within the body. PET scans are most noted for their ability to show how the cells of the various organs and bones of the body are functioning as opposed to what they just look like.

X-rays, CT and MRI scans are known as structural imaging techniques as they are able to produce very high quality pictures of organs tissues and bones. X-ray and CT does this by using an external x-ray beam that casts a shadow onto an imaging plate or film and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) puts the body into a strong magnetic field which causes cells within your body to vibrate at specific rates based on their makeup. The vibrations can then be detected by sensitive electronics to make an image.

Dr. Thomas Carr a Nuclear Medicine specialist at TBRHSC states that “PET scans are particularly good for looking for cancer or diseased cells, often long before they grow big enough to be seen by either CT or MRI. This allows the patient to proceed with treatments sooner. Michael Campbell the head of the radio pharmacy at the TBRRI states “the new PET agents act much like a GPS in your car and when picked up by the PET scanner basically say here I am.” He along with his colleagues are looking for the next generation of scanning agents that will be able to not only better target disease at an earlier stage but also treat them without having to use surgery or chemotherapy drugs.

At TBRHSC, the new PET scanner is combined with a state-of-the-art CT which allows for both the structural CT image to be combined with the functional PET image. Dr Carr states “that with the CT portion of the scan we can now be sure of the exact location of the abnormality that is identified by PET.” This will not only let a physician know where a patient’s disease is but will also suggest what might be the best course of treatment for that individual according to Dr. Campbell.

CT image showing no evidence of tumor - PET image showing PET/CT fused image tumor location

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