PET produces a 3-D image of functional processes in the body, and by injecting a radiochemical agent — called a tracer — into the patient, the PET scan can detect unusual molecular activity that may indicate an illness or disease, according to Kettering Health.
“Because disease processes are biochemical processes, PET scanning technology allows us to see a disease before it presents itself with traditional imaging like MRI and CT scans,” said Martin Satter, senior medical physicist at Kettering Medical Center, in a statement. “Early detection allows us to treat the disease sooner and to improve the patient’s outcome.”
Kettering Medical Center owns a medical cyclotron used to manufacture the PET tracers.
One of those PET tracers is methionine, an amino acid used to diagnose low-grade tumors.
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