"Major advances in technology have clearly improved image quality, increased the range of clinical applications and contributed to more widespread use of PET," noted Cherry. "We will continue to see major advances and improvements in PET technology for some time to come," he predicted. In addition, PET will continue to help researchers bridge or "translate" research on drugs from initial studies with animals through to clinical trials with people.

While the outside appearance of PET scanners may not have changed much over the past 15 years, there has been a revolution in its technologies and methods, said Cherry. Major advances in PET include the use of whole-body imaging, three-dimensional imaging, new scintillator materials, iterative reconstruction algorithms, combined PET/computed tomography (CT) imaging and preclinical PET.


Cherry foresees that additional advances will come with
* the reintroduction of time-of-flight PET, which takes advantage of the favorable timing properties of newer scintillators (providing higher-quality, "less noisy" images faster);
* very high resolution preclinical PET images (enabling researchers to make more intelligent choices in which drugs will be evaluated in clinical trials); and
* the development of new dual-modality imaging systems, such as PET/magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, that provide anatomical
and functional information (allowing for more detailed investigation of
biologic systems).

Looking ahead, Cherry envisions that integrating whole-body PET with MRI could revolutionize the profession, possibly offering significant diagnostic benefits. "Patients could benefit greatly from harnessing the combination of these two powerful technologies," said Cherry. The future of PET/MRI is on hold until researchers master the technological complexity of combining PET detectors with relatively high magnetic fields and overcome economic considerations (this technique will initially be expensive in a financially restricted health care setting).

"The 2006 Henry N. Wagner Lecture: Of Mice and Men (and Positrons)-Advances in PET Imaging Technology" appears in the November issue of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, which is published by SNM, an international scientific and professional organization of more than 16,000 physician, technologist and scientist members. For more information, please visit SNM's Web site at http://www.snm.org.

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 journal in the field (the Journal of Nuclear Medicine); host the premier annual meeting for medical imaging; sponsor research grants, fellowships and awards; and train physicians, technologists, scientists, physicists, chemists and radiopharmacists in state-of-the-art imaging procedures and advances. SNM members have

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