Positron Emission Tomography (PET-CT)
PET-CT is based on the use of a radioactive tracer that is injected into a vein and taken up by tissues where metabolism is rapid, such as cancer cells.
The scan always starts with low-dose CT, followed by PET. The CT and PET images are then combined by computer. In certain cancer types, the scan may be performed during a specific stage of the breathing cycle. This eliminates the blur caused by breathing movements and thus allows optimum image quality.
Docrates uses two different tracers in PET-CT. The tracer most frequently used in cancer imaging is fludeoxyglucose, also known as 18F-FDG. The total duration of the scan is between two and three hours depending on the type of assessment in question.
Before a PET-CT scan, the patient should rest for about 30 minutes to ensure his or her metabolism has settled back to normal. The tracer is injected intravenously, followed by further rest for about an hour. The actual scan usually takes about 25 minutes.
At Docrates, sodium fluoride or 18F-NaF is also used as a tracer. Thanks to the new tracer, the scan is highly sensitive and accurately depicts various skeletal lesions, including any skeletal metastases. The tracer is given intravenously about 15 minutes before the start of the scan, which takes about 40 minutes.
We use a Siemens Biograph TM TruePoint, which gives a new dimension to cancer diagnostics, follow-up and radiotherapy planning. It allows the assessment of cancer spread and treatment response at the cellular level. This enables the detection of lesions that cannot be visualised using other methods, for instance, metastases in normal-sized lymph nodes.
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The scan always starts with low-dose CT, followed by PET. The CT and PET images are then combined by computer. In certain cancer types, the scan may be performed during a specific stage of the breathing cycle. This eliminates the blur caused by breathing movements and thus allows optimum image quality.
Docrates uses two different tracers in PET-CT. The tracer most frequently used in cancer imaging is fludeoxyglucose, also known as 18F-FDG. The total duration of the scan is between two and three hours depending on the type of assessment in question.
Before a PET-CT scan, the patient should rest for about 30 minutes to ensure his or her metabolism has settled back to normal. The tracer is injected intravenously, followed by further rest for about an hour. The actual scan usually takes about 25 minutes.
At Docrates, sodium fluoride or 18F-NaF is also used as a tracer. Thanks to the new tracer, the scan is highly sensitive and accurately depicts various skeletal lesions, including any skeletal metastases. The tracer is given intravenously about 15 minutes before the start of the scan, which takes about 40 minutes.
We use a Siemens Biograph TM TruePoint, which gives a new dimension to cancer diagnostics, follow-up and radiotherapy planning. It allows the assessment of cancer spread and treatment response at the cellular level. This enables the detection of lesions that cannot be visualised using other methods, for instance, metastases in normal-sized lymph nodes.
Treatments >>