PET scan

PET scan Positron emission tomography scan, a highly specialized imaging technique that uses short-lived radioactive substances. This technique produces three-dimensional colored images. Unlike computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which look at anatomy or body form, PET studies metabolic activity or body function. PET scanning has been used primarily to evaluate problems of the heart and nervous system and to demonstrate the spread of cancer. The radioisotope used in a PET scan is short-lived, and the amount of radiation exposure the patient receives is very low. Because the radiopharmaceutical contains a chemical that is commonly used by the body, PET scanning enables the physician to see the location of the metabolic process. For example, glucose combined with a radioisotope shows where glucose is being used in the brain, the heart muscle, or a growing tumor, etc.