This article originally appeared in the December 2007 issue of DOTmed Business News.:
https://www.dotmed.com/images/magazine/archive/122007.pdf

PET imaging became a practical diagnostic tool in 1998 when the CMS first approved it for reimbursement for pulmonary nodules and lung cancer..


PET was then given a second boost a few years ago by the capabilities of the PET/CT scanner. The total picture of form and function that PET/CT delivers is so much more useful diagnostic information than PET alone, that no one makes a stand-alone PET machine anymore - although there are a number of installed PET systems still in used.

The great potential of PET studies is that radiotracers are created that will be taken-up by a very specific part of the cell in a specific part of the body. This allows doctors to study the precise biological function or abnormality under examination.

Nonetheless, the potential remains largely untapped.

The future is fuzzy, but looking up

PET/CT equipment sales are down for 2007, and are soft for almost every imaging modality. That is primarily due to the DRA cuts that affect free-standing imaging centers. Some industry experts expect sales to improve in 2008, but with the DRA estimated to save CMS up to $11 billion in payments by 2015, others say future trends are hard to read.

But the fundamental long-term question is how 'main stream' will PET/CT imaging become?

In data complied by Frost & Sullivan, (see table on page __) about 1 million PET/CT scans will be performed at free-standing imaging centers in the U.S. in 2007, compared to 17 million MR scans and almost 9 million CT scans. These report also say, however, that PET/CT is the fastest growing modality, increasing at about 22% per year, and that trend is expected to continue for the next three years.

What's next for PET?

To find out more about what lies ahead for PET, DOTmed Business News spoke with Dr. Henry Wagner, Jr., a recognized authority on nuclear medicine and molecular imaging.

DMBN: What are the most promising new areas of study for PET?

HW: Oncology is still PET's strong suit. Where the potential is greatest is in cardiology, and increasingly, in brain studies. PET is now accepted by leading experts in the study of Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's, and other areas. PET-FDG studies are very helpful in diagnosing whether a person has Alzheimer's Disease or what is called mild cognitive impairment.

DMBN: And what is it used for in cardiac?

HW: It's used with ammonia for measuring bloodflow, it's used for studying the innervation of the heart, so it is used for studying ventricular functions, innervation, and the state of myocardial bloodflow, with N-13 ammonia and rubidium-82-the tracers that are used most in the heart. A term that is now being widely used is called molecular imaging, and it looks at the state and actions of molecular processes.

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