3D tomographic wrist scanner for non-invasive determination of input function

PET is a powerful imaging technique which can be used to non-invasively quantify physiological processes in vivo. By combining PET images of tissue over time with an accurate measure of the amount of radioactivity in the blood, unique kinetic parameters can be obtained which, when used in combination with appropriate mathematical models, can be used to characterize physiological process for the diagnosis and characterization of diseases, and patient response to a given course of pharmacologic, radiation or behavioral therapy. However, the gold standard for determining the input function is invasive in nature and involves arterial blood sampling. In order to determine the input function non-invasively, a wrist scanner capable of measuring arterial blood radioactivity was developed. The feasibility of such an approach was proven using a prototype planar imaging device. A significant upgrade in the wrist scanner has been made in a new detector ring that is capable of fully 3D tomographic imaging.