Total body PET imaging: the changing radionuclide imaging landscape in the UK
Non-invasive radionuclide imaging has transformed clinical practice through enabling earlier diagnosis than before, more comprehensive staging, and monitoring of disease progression and therapy response. The quantitative nature of PET and widespread availability of standard radiopharmaceuticals, in particular [18F]FDG, have contributed to PET’s success. However, until recently, in order to capture information ‘from eyes to thighs’, ie the oncologically most relevant ‘half body’, scanning had to be performed with multiple bed positions that were then stitched together to allow imaging of a half body and molecular processes within it. On the contrary, true whole body imaging has been possible for preclinical animal models for decades. It was only recently, through the creation of total body PET (TBP) scanners with a singular 100-200cm field of view, that true whole body PET imaging could be realised in clinical practice.
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