WHAT IS POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a new non-invasive diagnostic imaging procedure that produces images of small changes in cellular metabolism. A very small amount of radioactive material “tracer” (radionuclide or radioisotope) is injected into a vein by a PET technologist. The radioactive material “tracer” is tagged to a form of sugar that is used for energy by all cells in the body. Areas of abnormally high uptake of the “tracer” appear as brighter areas on the scan.