DALE BAILEY PhD | Principal Physicist, Department of Nuclear Medicine | ROYAL NORTH SHORE HOSPITAL, St Leonards | NSW | 2065
Professor in Medical Radiation Science, Faculty of Health Sciences, Hon.Affiliate, Faculty of Medicine & Health, Hon.Affiliate, School of Physics, THE UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY
If your local doctor has referred you to a nuclear medicine physician for a PET scan, then you may like to know more about this medical examination.
What information will it show?
How is it different to a CT Scan?
This video, ‘A PET Scan, beginners guide‘, was produced by PETNET Solutions. It provides an excellent introductory description for patients to understand .
PET scan is short for ‘Positron Emission Tomography’ scan.
The radioactive isotope labelled to glucose (“FDG”) emits a positive particle which produces two photons that travel away from their origin ion the body in opposite directions. The difference in time, measured by opposing radiation detectors, enables the PET to calculate exactly where inside the patient, the radioisotope is located and build-up a “map” of glucose consumption throughout the body.
PET has been the fastest growing area of medical imaging in Australia in the past decade.
Dale Bailey PhD, September 2020
