The short time span enables patients to easily hold their breath, allowing for a clearer image to develop, and makes the exam less costly than a 45-minute MR procedure, which requires the injection of contrast agents such as gadolinium. In PACT, the blood serves as an intrinsic contrast agent.

It also can differentiate between oxygenated and unoxygenated blood, enhancing its ability to detect tumors since the high oxygen demands of cancer tissue lead to its rapid deoxygenation of the blood compared to normal tissue.


With future research, imaging with the scanner could be used to asses other body parts and conditions, such as vascular tissue in the extremities of a patient with diabetes. Greater exploration of its safety and efficiency is still required.

“Risk assessment has not been studied yet using our technology,” said Wang. “But it is an interesting direction.”

The product has been licensed by CalPACT LLC, a startup dedicated to commercializing PACT technologies for functional imaging of the human breast and whole-body small animals without the use of ionizing radiation.

Commercial availability is pending clinical testing and the regulatory approval process and expected to take place in the next few years.

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