What does the future hold for PET/CT?
I won't go as far as proclaiming the world is round, but will firmly stand my belief that PET/CT will survive the growth of SPECT/CT, the DRA, and all of the future technological advances that come. Each of these modalities will continue to advance in coexistence of one another and the cross modality integrations will bring further enhancements . To debate the future of SPECT/CT and PET/CT is to look with blinders on. The road to the future in molecular medicine will be the growth of personalized medicine. Advancements in micro fluidics, in-vitro diagnostics and the integration of IT will forge the growth of molecular imaging and the important role it plays in the world of medicine. I am certainly a proponent of SPECT/CT and am optimistic about its growth and future as it follows the trail blazed by PET/CT and offers greater diagnostic capability over SPECT alone.
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From Douglas J. Wagenaar, PhD --
Please pass along my compliments to Wayne, perhaps he remembers me from my Medical Physicist days at Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, in the office next to Tony Parker. One thought that has been with me since I first saw the 5-headed PET monstrosity proposed by CTI a few years ago at an IEEE meeting, and that is: PET is a mainframe.

Optical and, more importantly, SPECT are PCs. There is no conceivable way to make a mainframe into a PC. There is no conceivable way to make PET a small, handheld device. I believe this analogy will carry forward as PET diminishes and SPECT rises. Why use a mainframe to write a word document? Why use $1.5 M worth of LSO to image a hot spot in the chest? This is a separate argument from Wayne's, but perhaps it can strengthen his radionuclide angle. Thanks for the enlightening article.
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