Clinical PET/MR Imaging in Oncology: Future Perspectives

Abstract

In 2011, the first fully integrated commercially available clinical PET/MR imaging systems became available, and the imaging community thought that these scanners would replace PET/CT systems. However, today a disappointing number of less than 100 scanners have been installed worldwide. The question, therefore, arises regarding what the future clinical applications of PET/MR imaging will be. In this article, the authors discuss ways in which PET/MR imaging may be used in future applications that justify the added cost, predominantly focusing on oncologic applications. The authors suggest that such areas include combined molecular and functional imaging, multimodality radiomics, and hyperPET.

Keywords: Cancer; HyperPET; Molecular imaging; PET/MR imaging.