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. 2009 Jul;34(3):122-8.
doi: 10.4103/0971-6203.54844.

Advances in multimodality molecular imaging

Habib Zaidi  1 , Rameshwar Prasad
Affiliations

Advances in multimodality molecular imaging

Habib Zaidi et al. J Med Phys. 2009 Jul.

Abstract

Multimodality molecular imaging using high resolution positron emission tomography (PET) combined with other modalities is now playing a pivotal role in basic and clinical research. The introduction of combined PET/CT systems in clinical setting has revolutionized the practice of diagnostic imaging. The complementarity between the intrinsically aligned anatomic (CT) and functional or metabolic (PET) information provided in a "one-stop shop" and the possibility to use CT images for attenuation correction of the PET data has been the driving force behind the success of this technology. On the other hand, combining PET with Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in a single gantry is technically more challenging owing to the strong magnetic fields. Nevertheless, significant progress has been made resulting in the design of few preclinical PET systems and one human prototype dedicated for simultaneous PET/MR brain imaging. This paper discusses recent advances in PET instrumentation and the advantages and challenges of multimodality imaging systems. Future opportunities and the challenges facing the adoption of multimodality imaging instrumentation will also be addressed.

Keywords: Instrumentation; PET; PET/CT; PET/MR; multimodality imaging.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Extent, over the imaging applications, of the most popular medical imaging modalities based on their widespread use
Figure 2
Figure 2
Photographs of different geometrical arrangements of clinical (top) and preclinical (bottom) PET block detector design realized using an assembly of 8×8 BGO crystals of 6.45×6.45×25 mm3 each (top left) and 13×13 LSO crystals of 4×4×20 mm3 (top right). (Courtesy of Siemens Medical Solutions). Example 8×8 arrays of discrete LSO scintillation crystal pixels used in two successive generations of microPET systems (Courtesy of Siemens Preclinical Solutions, Knoxville, USA). In these last system designs, each array is coupled to a position sensitive photomultiplier tube through fiber-optic coupling
Figure 3
Figure 3
Illustration of a clinical PET/CT study showing the limitations of 18F-FDG for the detection of hepatic metastases whereas two metastases were clearly visible on the 18F-FDopa study
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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