An imaging procedure that uses radioactive tracers to create three dimensional pictures of the tissues inside of the body and can monitor metabolic processes.

a method of which is used to record internal body images. Gamma rays are detected from body tissues which are isotopically labelled.

Use of positive radionuclides to reconstruct brain sections. Measurement can be taken of oxygen and glucose uptake, cerebral blood flow, and blood volume.

A technique to map the emission of particles called positrons from decay of radioactive elements injected into the body.

(PET): A highly specialized imaging technique that allows for the observation of the brain at work.

PET scans are mostly used for telling whether lung tumours are cancerous, and whether they are suitable for surgery. In bowel cancer treatment, PET scans are useful to identify secondary cancers, especially in the liver. "The patient is injected with a small amount of a radioactive glucose chemical, which gathers around cancer cells inside the body. After passing through the scanner, the distribution of the chemical is measured by a camera and an image is produced - indicating the site of a cancer tumour." (p.2 MacM.News, Winter 03) There are only five hospitals in the whole country that offer PET scans, all of them in London. If your medical team thinks you need it, you will be referred to one of these hospitals for a PET scan.

An in vivo imaging technique that detects the location of positron-emitting isotopes by virtue of the pair of rays that are emitted when the positrons encounter electrons.

An advanced, computerized imaging technique that uses radioactively-labels substances (e.g., glucose) to demonstrate chemical and metabolic activities in the brain as well as track other brain functions. Brain structures are also visualized on PET scans.

A technique used to measure neural activity by monitoring changes in regional blood flow. PET has good spatial resolution but relatively poor temporal resolution.

technology developed in the 1970s by physicists at Washington University and UCLA. A radioactive solution that emits positively charged electrons is introduced into the bloodstream. Positrons are emitted as the blood flows. Positrons interact with electrons to create photons of magnetic radiation. Detectors pick up the position of the photons, thereby creating a map of bloodflow. Source: Neuroscience: Exploring the Brain.

Positron emission tomography (PET) exploits the property of cancerous cells that absorbs more glucose than healthy cells. The technique involves using a radioactive substance tagged to a natural body compound, most commonly glucose. The substance is administered to a patient intravenously. Since cancerous tissue uses more glucose than normal issue, the injected substance helps discover diseased parts of the body and allows doctors to see if the cancer is spreading. Just a single PET scan can check the entire body and detect cancerous tissue measuring only several millimeters. PET imaging, therefore, is believed to be effective in discovering cancer at a very early stage and examining patients after a cancer operation.

(POZ-ih-tron ee-MIH-shun tah-MAH-greh-fee) Specialized method of medical imaging that is capable of displaying the metabolic activity of organs in the body using short-lived radioactive substances. This technique is very sensitive in detecting active tumor tissue and is useful in diagnosing cancer, locating brain tumors, and investigating other brain disorders.

an imaging technology that has the unique ability to detect the metabolic (chemical) processes of the body. While other imaging modalities show anatomical or structural changes in the body, a PET scan can reveal chemical changes in the tissues — often before anatomical or structural changes have occurred or are evident on other imaging modalities, such as CT. This is especially significant in the diagnosis of cancer, since cancerous tissue is more metabolically active than normal tissue.

A nuclear scanning procedure that gives three-dimensional views of various organs and can identify some cancers long before other conventional imaging techniques.

using a computerized radiographic technique to examine the metabolic activity in various tissues (especially in the brain)

An imaging technique that shows changes in blood flow as well as concentrations of oxygen and other substances in brain tissue. close window Recovered Memory An occurrence that someone recalls long after it is thought to have taken place. close window

A widely used imaging technique for detecting cancers and examining metabolic activity in humans and animals. A small amount of short-lived, positron-emitting radioactive isotope is injected into the body on a carrier molecule such as glucose. Glucose carries the positron emitter to areas of high metabolic activity, such as a growing cancer. The positrons which are emitted quickly, form positronium with an electron from the bio-molecules in the body and then annihilate producing gamma rays. Special detectors can track this process and enables the detection of cancers or abnormalities in brain function.

a diagnostic test using nuclear medicine in which tissue function can be imaged. Damaged tissues have reduced metabolic activity; therefore, gamma radiation from these areas is reduced or absent.

PET scans use whole-body imaging to allow doctors to view cellular activity of tissues inside the body. A sugar labeled with a radioactive isotope is injected into the patient's vein. The scanner takes measurements of the cells as they use the sugar. The measurements produce a picture.

used to determine if a cancer has spread. PET scan detects radioactive material from radioactive glucose injected into the patient’s body, which then create detailed pictures of the tumors.

A technique where blood flow in the brain is recorded with the use of radioactive isotopes.

A technique used for imaging the brain activity by measuring the flow of blood containing radioactive atoms that emit positrons

A gamma camera scanner that picks up gamma rays (which are very similar to X-rays) from radioactive chemicals that have been injected, swallowed or breathed into the body. For a PET scan, the patient is injected with a small amount of a radioactive sugar, which gathers in cancer cells inside the body. A special scanner (sometimes attached to a Computerised Tomography scanner) then produces a picture of the body which shows up cancer cells. Not many hospitals have PET scanners yet. If your medical team thinks you need it, you will be referred to one that does.

Imaging technique that relies on the detection of gamma rays emitted from tissues after administration of a natural biochemical substance into which positron-emitting isotopes have been incorporated.

A method for imaging cerebral blood flow and, indirectly, brain activity making use of tracers that emit positrons. The tracer is introduced into the subject's blood and then its concentration is measured using the emitted positrons. Since local cerebral blood flow appears to be correlated with neuronal activity PET scans can be used to monitor local brain activity.

in nuclear medicine, a procedure that measures the metabolic activity of cells.

Uses radioisotopes to produce images of the activity of the brain and heart by tracking metabolism or blood flow and not anatomy.

a nuclear scanning device that gives a three-dimensional picture of the heart to provide information about the flow of blood through the coronary arteries to the heart muscle.

PET is a non-invasive test that examines metabolism and biochemistry of various organs of the body. PET provides whole body images used for the detection, evaluation, and management of cancer, as well as for focused images of the brain and cardiac tissue. New England Neurological Associates affiliate New England PET Imaging System provides PET services on the grounds of Caritas Holy Family Hospital.

A new scanning technique that uses radioactive isotopes to show how well cells are functioning search for Positron emission tomography (PET)

Imaging technique in which minute amounts of radioactive material are used to detect cancer anywhere in the body.

A technique that uses signals emitted by radioactive tracers to construct images of the distribution of the tracers in the human body.

a tool used to diagnose brain functions and disorders. PET produces three-dimensional, colored images of chemicals or substances functioning within the body. These images are called PET scans.

A PET scan creates an image of the body (or of biochemical events) after the injection of a very low dose of a radioactive form of a substance, such as sugar. The scan computes the rate at which the tumor is using the sugar. In general, high-grade tumors use more sugar than normal and low-grade tumors use less. PET scans may also be used to see how well the tumor is responding to treatment

A computer–assisted technique for generating cross–sectional images of a subject by measuring the radioactivity released by radiotracers within the subject’s body.

A test that produces an image based on the uptake of glucose by a cancer, used to determine if a tumor is a cancer and if a cancer has spread.

PET. A highly specialized imaging technique that uses short-lived radioactive substances to produce three-dimensional colored images of those substances functioning within the body. These images are called PET scans and the technique is termed PET scanning. See the entire definition of Positron emission tomography

An imaging technique using small amounts of radioactive material that produces a cross-sectional view of specific chemical activities in the brain

A diagnostic imaging technique using positively charged particles

Technique that uses radioactive isotopes to produces images of the chemical function of organs such as blood flow in the brain.

A technique for imaging the brain in action. PET images show active regions in the brain.

A technique for measuring brain function in living human subjects by detecting the location and concentration of tiny amounts of radioactive chemicals.

an imaging technique that allows researchers to observe and measure brain activity by monitoring blood flow and concentrations of substances such as oxygen and glucose in brain tissues.

An imaging technique that uses small quantities of a radioactive tracer similar to sugar (18Fluorodeoxyglucose) to produce images showing how your body is functioning. PET visualises active tissue and cells as opposed to the body's anatomy and structure. You will be injected with a non-harmful radioactive tracer that acts like glucose and travels all around the body. This tracer collects in active areas of your body, such as cancer cells and is imaged using a PET scanner. PET is primarily used in imaging cancer and can provide doctors with useful information at many stages of the disease process, such as diagnosis, staging or treatment evaluation. Applications for PET in cardiology and neurology are also on the increase.

a PET scan produces an image of the body, then computes specifications of tumors for precise diagnoses. PET scans are especially useful in taking images of the brain, although they are becoming more widely used to find the spread of cancer of the breast, colon, rectum, ovary, or lung. PET scans may also be used to see how well a tumor is responding to treatment.

A nuclear medicine imaging test that detects differences in metabolism; often used to differentiate between healthy and abnormal tissue.

a computerized image of the metabolic activity of the body used to determine the presence of disease.

Nuclear scanning of heart in three-dimensional graphic.

(PET) (poz-ih-tron e-mish-en toe-mog-ra-fe): A technique used to evaluate the activity of brain tissues.

a technique of nuclear medicine used to evaluate the activity of tissues by measuring their uptake of injected 2-deoxyglucose labelled with radioactive fluorine. As this substance is metabolised after uptake it emits positrons, which collide with electrons and are annihilated with the production of gamma rays.

A computerized radiographic technique that shows metabolic activity occurring in various body structures (in the heart and brain, for example). A radioactive substance that emits positively charged electrons (positrons) is injected into or inhaled by the patient, in whom they combine with negatively charged electrons. The resulting gamma radiation is converted into color-coded images.

Positron emission tomography, also called PET or a PET scan, is a diagnostic examination that involves the development of biologic images based on the detection of subatomic particles. These particles are emitted from a radioactive substance given to the patient. The subsequent views of the human body are used to evaluate function. For details see the  Positron Emission Tomography page.

A computer-based scanning procedure that measures regional changes in blood flow to map the neural activities of the living brain.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine medical imaging technique which produces a three-dimensional image or map of functional processes in the body.