Combo MRI/PET Scanner

Two kinds of body imaging -- positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) -- have been combined for the first time in a single scanner.

MRI scans provide exquisite structural detail but little functional information, while PET scans -- which follow a radioactive tracer in the body -- can show body processes but not structures, said Simon Cherry, professor and chair of biomedical engineering at UC Davis. Cherry's lab built the scanner for studies with laboratory mice, for example in cancer research.

"We can correlate the structure of a tumor by MRI with the functional information from PET, and understand what's happening inside a tumor," Cherry said.

source: MedicalNewsToday