Whole-body hybrid PET/MRI: ready for clinical use?

Excerpt

Since its introduction in 1998 [1], combined PET/CT has gained clinical acceptance as an oncology imaging modality providing superior accuracy in tumour staging and assessment of oncology therapy response compared to PET or CT alone [2, 3] and to both imaging modalities viewed side-by-side [4, 5]. The PET technology available in combined PET/CT has advanced significantly over the years and now supports emission imaging of the torso from head to mid-thigh with isotropic sub-centimetre resolution in 10 min, or less. The integration of high-end multidetector CT in dual modality tomographs marks a trend towards performing contrast-enhanced diagnostic CT studies, which has progressively increased the clinical relevance of integrated PET/CT imaging protocols. Undisputedly, these changes in diagnostic pathways require the close collaboration and even cross-specialist training of nuclear medicine specialists and radiologists. …