Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles has developed "Motion-Frozen" reconstruction technology, an image-processing technique that compensates for the motion of the beating heart. The technology reduces distortion and improves the clarity of PET cardiac imaging, especially in the case of myocardial perfusion studies. About 550,000 new cases of heart failure are diagnosed each year, said Conti. The technology could provide a more accurate means of detecting heart disease.

PET/MR prototype is making waves


On the most experimental front of positron imaging, the combination of positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MR) is the newest development in a line of imaging hybrids. The prototype technology could prove to be a superior imaging system for detecting breast cancer and has been shown in clinical studies to provide "excellent mapping of liver and kidneys" with the use of the radionuclide C-11 Methionine, "which shows potential for other agents," said Dr. Conti.

"We envision this moving relatively quickly in the next couple of years into human use applications," said Dr. Conti. "We've got a very exciting opportunity because we now have the ability to choose between PET/MR and PET/CT."

Better detection of dementia may be possible with PET

A study by the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, showed that PET scans could improve the accuracy of dementia diagnosis, said Conti. PET improved diagnostic accuracy in more than one out of four patients over other imaging systems. Each year, more than 5 million people are diagnosed with a form of dementia, including Alzheimer's. PET imaging for dementia could lead to early detection and appropriate treatments.

Medical isotope crisis

Fact: 70 to 80 percent of all nuclear medicine procedures use Technetium-99, a radioisotope decayed from Molybdenum-99, the now relatively scarce isotope. Molybdenum is created in a nuclear fission reaction when a neutron is added to the stable isotope Moly-98. There are currently five reactors set up to produce this isotope, including Canada's NRU reactor, also known as the Chalk River facility. This facility was shut down following a power outage May 14, 2009. Inspections led to the discovery of a water leak - -the third in two years for the 52-year-old reactor. The average age of all five reactors is 47 years.

"It's clear that too many demands are being placed on too few facilities that are simply too old," said Dr. Atcher. "Despite extensive efforts to maintain and modernize these facilities, they are simply too undependable to keep up with the growing demand of medical isotopes and can therefore no longer be depended upon as the sole sources of molybdenum-99."

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