Dear AuntMinnie Member,
Hybrid functional/anatomic imaging with PET/CT scanners has been generating most of the buzz in the nuclear medicine world lately, but another less visible technology, SPECT/CT, could be promising for new functional/anatomic applications in areas such as cardiac imaging.
That's according to nuclear cardiologist Dr. Daniel Berman of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, who spoke on the topic yesterday at the Academy of Molecular Imaging (AMI) meeting in Orlando, FL. Staff writer Jonathan S. Batchelor was on hand to report on Dr. Berman's talk for our Molecular Imaging Digital Community.
Myocardial perfusion SPECT is an established technique for assessing myocardial tissue damage, while CT has demonstrated its ability to noninvasively detect coronary calcification -- an area where SPECT falls short.
Adding CT to cardiac SPECT studies could counterbalance SPECT's tendency to miss stenoses in densely calcified plaque, thus making the test more precise, Dr. Berman said. Questions remain about the technique, however, such as whether it would require a combination SPECT/CT system conducting a simultaneous study, or simply separate SPECT and CT exams that are then fused via software.
Read all about the talk by clicking here. You can also view the rest of our coverage of the Academy of Molecular Imaging meeting by visiting our Molecular Imaging Digital Community, at molecular.auntminnie.com.
