What is PET?

Positron Emission Tomography is an imaging test that reveals and shows doctors hows your tissues and organs are functioning. PET tests use a radioactive indicator to show doctors what they want to find out. By using PET tests doctors may be able to detect the early onset of a disease before it is obvious on other imaging test. PET test are able to pinpoint molecular activity within the body. It may help diagnose cancers, heart diseases and brain disorders earlier than other tests doctors use.

Radioactive Isotopes used for PET tests.

When conducting this type of test doctors use radioisotopes to pinpoint where different functions of your bones and tissues by using radioactive isotopes or radio-tracers. The test begin with a small injection of oxygen or glucose which have radio nuclides within them. The radio nuclides are carbon-11, nitrogen-13, oxygen-15 and the most commonly used fluorine-18. As the oxygen or glucose decay they emit a high energy position which is known as anti-matter which then collide with electrons resulting in small bursts of y-radiation. The PET detector picks up on the energy from the positron and electron collisions from a thin slice of brain increment.

Sources:

Designs for Experiments, web.csulb.edu/~cwallis/482/petscan/pet_lab.html.

2018, www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/pet-scan/about/pac-20385078.

RadiologyInfo.org, www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=pet.