Positron emission tomography (PET) is an advanced innovative diagnostic method of nuclear medicine that visualizes pathological processes in the human body at the molecular level and with the highest accuracy determines their localization.
It is used to diagnose oncological, neurological and cardiovascular diseases.
The radiation exposure during the PET/CT procedure is slightly higher compared to a conventional X-ray examination. And it is worth noting that the entire body is scanned compared to its strictly defined part during X-rays examination. At the same time, the quality of visualization and the amount of information obtained as a result of performing PET/CT are incomparably higher than those ones obtained in any other methods of examination.
A radiopharmaceutical agent is completely excreted from the body within 24 hours.
Particularities of the Creation and Operation of the PET/CT Department
A short-lived radiopharmaceutical agent (its life time not more than 24 hours, and the substance activity is decreased every 1.5 hours) is a main consumable during the study. It is necessary to arrange either high-tech production on site, or transportation from the nearest cyclotron-radiochemical complex for manufacturing this radiopharmaceutical agent.
The radiopharmaceutical agent is a radioactive substance. It is necessary to obtain permission documentation at each stage of the creation and operation of PET/CT Department.