First whole-human scan by simultaneous PET and CT
The idea, 13 years ago, of University of California Davis scientists Simon Cherry and Ramsey Badawi, it can produce an image in as little as one second – because, according to the University, the machine captures radiation far more efficiently than other scanners. Given time, it can produce movies that can track tagged drugs as they move around the entire body.
“The level of detail was astonishing, especially once we got the reconstruction method a bit more optimized,” he said. “We could see features that you just don’t see on regular PET scans. And the dynamic sequence showing the radiotracer moving around the body in three dimensions over time was, frankly, mind-blowing. There is no other device that can obtain data like this in humans, so this is truly novel,,” said Badawi, chief of nuclear medicine at UC Davis Health.
The machine produces higher-quality diagnostic PET scans than have ever been possible, said Cherry, and it can scan up to 40 times faster than current PET scan – producing a whole body scan in 20-30 seconds.
Alternatively, it can scan with a radiation dose up to 40 times less than a current PET scan. “The trade-off between image quality, acquisition time and injected radiation dose will vary for different applications, but in all cases, we can scan better, faster or with less radiation dose, or some combination of these,” he said.
Applications could include quantitatively measurement of blood flow, or glucose take-up, over the whole body at once. “Researchers envision using the scanner to study cancer that has spread beyond a single tumor site, inflammation, infection, immunological or metabolic disorders and many other diseases,” said the University.
Shanghai-based United Imaging Healthcare (UIH) which built the prototype system, based on its latest technology platform – and will eventually manufacture the devices for the broader healthcare market.
The first scans of humans using the new device will be shown at the Radiological Society of North America meeting (starts 24 November, Chicago).
The first whole human scan by Explore can be seen in this video.