PETSCAN
Photo essay from hospital. Department of Nuclear Medicine of the Gustave Roussy Institute, in the French region of Ile-de-France. Exploration with Positron Emission Tomography (PET). PET scan. Cancer diagnosis. Functional imagery technique to detect cancer and follow its evolution. In a PET scan, the patient receives an intravenous injection of radioactive isotopes, creating contrast tracers that are detected by the PET scanner. The radioactive tracer is often 18-Fluorodeoxyglucose (18-FDG) which has a chemical composition which is very similar to glucose, however, yet is radioactive and thus can be detected using nuclear medicine equipment. Cancer cells, which have a higher metabolism than normal cells, absorb more glucose. The 18-FDG, however, is not metabolized like glucose and remains in the cell (whether cancerous or not) for a longer time. The more aggressive the cancerous cells, the more they capture and retain 18-FDG. The 18-FDG atoms emit positrons as part of the normal radioactive disintegration process. Rapidly contacting electrons in the body, two photons (or light particles) are emitted in diametrically opposed directions (180 degrees). A tomogram of the positron emission, coupled with a CAT scan produces the image known as a PET scan allowing the radiologist to precisely locate the site of the emission and thus the tumor.
Size: 3630px × 2770px
Photo credit: © RAGUET H. / BSIP / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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