Standard 2-D PET and PET/CT images (with FDG) are accurate for evaluating lung and colorectal cancer; however, they lack the anatomic information that can be provided by 3-D images from a multidetector CT scan. Even so, with 3-D CT scans, small and flat lesions in the lungs and colon are difficult to see or characterize, said Quon. "Our study takes this to another level," he noted, indicating that fused PET/CT images with 3-D volume rendering may provide additional beneficial information for image interpretation and create new areas of clinical application. While this technology may become standard over the next three to five years, "it could have exciting applications in cardiovascular imaging, providing 3-D views of blood vessels and possibly identifying individuals at risk for heart disease," he predicted.

In the case of a patient with colorectal cancer--a term used to refer to cancer that develops in the colon or rectum and is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States--the current standard of care is a colonoscopy, a procedure where a long, flexible, lighted tube is inserted into the rectum and guided slowly into the colon. The tube or scope transmits an image of the inside of the colon onto a video screen so its lining can be examined.


While the initial findings are exciting, the researchers proved the concept rather than validated the technique. Future validation studies will be conducted and software tools need additional development, said Quon, who indicated that the technique might be expanded to include other tracers and anatomic regions besides the chest and colon.

"`Flying Through'" and `Flying Around' a PET/CT Scan: Pilot Study and Development of 3-D Integrated 18F-FDG PET/CT for Virtual Bronchoscopy and Colonoscopy," appears in the July issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, which is published by SNM. Besides Quon, co-authors include Sandy Napel, Christopher F. Beaulieu and Sanjiv Sam Gambhir, all with the radiology and bioengineering departments, Molecular Imaging Program, Stanford, University, Stanford, Calif.

Links to videos of Stanford University's "fly through" and "flying around" PET/CT scans are provided below and may also be viewed on SNM's Web site for the Journal of Nuclear Medicine at http://jnm.snmjournals.org/cgi/content/full/47/7/1081/DC3.

About SNM--Advancing Molecular Imaging and Therapy
SNM is an international scientific and professional organization of more than 16,000 members dedicated to promoting the science, technology and practical applications of molecular and nuclear imaging to diagnose, manage and treat diseases in women, men and children. Founded more than 50 years ago, SNM continues to provide essential resources for health care practitioners and patients; publish the most prominent peer-reviewed resource in the field; sponsor research grants, fellowships and awards; host the premier annual meeting for medical imaging; and train physicians, technologists, scientists, physicists, chemists and radiopharmacists in state-of-the-art imaging procedures and advances. SNM members have introduced--and continue to explore--biological and technological innovations in medicine that noninvasively investigate the molecular basis of diseases, benefiting countless generations of patients. SNM is based in Reston, Va.; additional information can be found online at www.snm.org.

Figure caption:
Schematic of 3D rendering of PET/CT images. Standard 2D tomographic CT and PET images, which contain scaling and alignment parameters calculated by software on PET/CT scanner are simultaneously rendered into a single image that combines CT anatomy and PET activity in correct anatomic relationship. Bone soft-tissue, and airway windows can be selected when using 3D rendering of CT to emphasize a particular anatomic perspective. Similar process is used to create 3D rendered virtual endoscopy images.

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