PET / CT of Las Colinas

Positronemission tomography (PET) captures 3D pictures of the interior of your body . The imaging technique relies on a mildly radioactive drug. PET displays whether and where cancer has spread in your body.   The drug highlights areas where cells are more active (cancer cells tend to be more active than other cells).   PET scan is an outpatient procedure that takes roughly 45 to 6o minutes to complete. Radiologists combine PET with CT scan for clear images. The Purpose of a PET Scan Physicians request a PET scan for various reasons such as detecting the presence of cancer. They also order the scan to determine how far the disease has spread. Before diagnosis, a physician requests for the scan to check if a lump is cancerous or not. When you begin your cancer treatment, your physician may request a PET scan to help determine the best treatment method for each patient.. Sometimes, scans are used to check for cancer at the heart's center or in the lymph nodes. Lastly, ...

Alzheimer's disease affects 5.8 million Americans. It is among the top causes of dementia. Alzheimer's is challenging to diagnose in the initial stages because it does not exhibit any symptoms until later stages. Symptoms such as memory loss appear after neurodegeneration (which takes years or decades) has already taken a toll on cognition and memory.   Clinical trials that aim to reverse or slow down cellular damage brought about by Alzheimer'sdisease have failed repeatedly. Could it be because the drugs are administered too late? Researchers and scientists are yet to find out. The only way to ascertain the hypothesis is to find a way to diagnose Alzheimer's disease in people with zero symptoms then test the drugs.   Scientific Developments for Alzheimer Diagnosis   Biological markers rely on tests of cerebrospinal fluid and brain scans, e.g., blood tests, MRI brain scans, cerebrospinal fluid tests, genetic tests, and PET brain scans. Biomarker tests show how the...

COVID-19 is often diagnosed through RT-PCR testing. Now some experts are arguing that CT scans can help to diagnose Covid-19 . But others disagree with them. The covid-19 epidemic continues to spread all over the world, killing many people as nations strive to find cure or vaccination. Diagnosing people with SARS-CoV-2 early is key to combating the spread of the disease. Once you are diagnosed, you can limit your physical contact with other people and slow down its spread. To many people, reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) is the gold standard for Covid-19 diagnosis. RT-PCR is a molecular biology technique that identifies material specific to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, RT-PCR does not provide 100% accuracy, which has raised concerns about the false-negative and false-positive results. So, is it possible that CT scans can serve as an adjunct to RT-PCR diagnosis? CT scans combine a series of images that reflect abnormal cells' metabolic activi...

PET (positron emission tomography) scans help to deliver clear images of the biological functions of the body. They help to detect disease quicker compared to other imaging techniques like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) scans. A PET scan is a highly technological nuclear procedure that is very safe with no known potential side effects. The risks for this procedure apply only to a few cases. The procedure requires the patient to be injected with a radioactive tracer, which is compounded with low dose radioisotope and sugar.   The radioactive compound travels to the location being imaged while the patient rests still on the scanner for about 40 to 45 minutes. Once it reaches the cancer location, the tracer will emit signals, which will be translated into images by a computer. During cancer diagnosis, doctors want to look at all angles of the disease, including the possible causes and consequences. PET can be combined with other imaging tech...

A positron emission tomography scan is often used to help doctors diagnose, monitor, and treat several cancers, including lung, lymphomas, and head and neck cancer. They also help them find tumor locations and determine if treatment is working for patients. A PET scanner uses a radioactive tracer to show the abnormal (cancerous) cells in the body. Doctors can examine every part of a patient's body and identify cancer. Known as Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), the radioactive tracer is often attached to fluorine-18. When the glucose is absorbed by body cells, the fluorine-18 will break down and release gamma rays and positrons. Cancer cells are always aggressive, and they grow and multiply fast as they take in more sugar. On PET scans, cancerous cells will glow brighter. Here is why PET scans are conducted: ·          Sometimes doctors perform PET scans on neurology and cardiology patients. ·       ...

Breast cancer is a huge problem in the health sector. Technology has not solved this problem. Annual screening and self-examination are the best methods to detect cancer early. Cancer screening has become a hot topic and is sometimes controversial, but what remains is that early diagnosis and treatment is beneficial to the patient. So why do false positives occur? This is a question many ask, especially since we live in the age of technology. This is because the technology used in screening is out of date. Mammograms pick up both benign and malignant tumors, it is up to the doctor to figure out which is which. While a PET scan is more detailed in the images it produces thus offering better clarity on whether the tumor is malignant or not. Most women start screening for breast cancer at the age 40 . Of these women, most are at the risk of developing breast cancer. These chances are increased if they are screened later on after 40. Biopsies remain the best way to tell ...

A ratio of the sinus scores can be calculated based on CT imaging to help predict the recurrence of chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) with nasal polyps accurately.   According to new findings; ·          CRS with nasal polyps will always recur even after sinus surgery. The recurrence rate is at 21% within 8 years. The tissue eosinophil counts and proportions, and the presence of eosinophilicmucin have already been used as recurrence markers but the tests are often invasive or require surgery. Investigators suggest that CT scans have the potential to predict the CRS recurrence with nasal polyps. ·          The current study is investigating the importance of CT scans in predicting recurrence in CRS with nasal polyps patients who are to undergo the endoscopic functional sinus surgery. The patients already took a CT scan before surgery. ·          Two ...

New research has found that measuring glucose PET scans are better indicators of the advancement of Alzheimer's disease compared to amyloid PET scans. A medical trial targeting beta-amyloid plaque was carried out. It indicates that toxic proteins and shortage of glucose in the brain as people get old can lead to Alzheimer's disease. The research carried out in Perelman School of Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Jefferson University shows that FDG-PET makes a better diagnosis on the progress of Alzheimer's disease and MCI compared to florbetapir-PET scans which measure amyloid levels. The FDG PET scan checks the brain's glucose intake and its effect on neurons, thus providing the doctor with a better understanding of Alzheimer treatments work. FDG-PET and florbetapir-PET scans are recommendable diagnosis methods for Alzheimer’s disease. They also appear to show a form of cognitive impairment. However, studies reveal that FDG-PET is much p...

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a disease that damages the central nervous system, thus disrupting communication between the brain and spinal cord. A radiotracer called [F-18] PBR06 can detect changes in brain matter through positron emission tomography (PET). [F-18]PBR06 has the potential to detect the disease before patients show any symptoms giving doctors the ability to treat the condition. MS progression’s identity procedures ·          Some patients may show signs of the disorder, though in most cases, the doctors will suspect the presence of the disease and order for tests. [F-18] PBR06 is used to image the patient and give insights into neurodegeneration and inflammations. MS progression will interfere with the signal connecting white matter of the brain. The disability is caused by differences in grey matter, specifically through activation of microglia. Microglia is the central nervous system's immune cells. ·   ...

PET-CT scanning is the gold standard for imaging in cancer . It is used for detecting and monitoring all types of cancer. PET-CT technology has improved with time and now offers plenty of benefits in oncology. Today, digital PET-CT scanners provide high image qualities, and radiologists can now detect small cancer lesions and treat the cancer effectively on time. Here is how advanced PET-CT scanning has improved cancer imaging: ·          It helps to find tricky thyroid tumors – Thyroid cells may fail to absorb iodine in some thyroid cancers. This means that radioiodine imaging, which usually is used to track radioactive iodine, may fail because of the inability of the thyroid cells to absorb iodine. That is when doctors use PET-CT scanning to find the thyroid tumors. ·          When cells lose the ability to absorb iodine, PET-CT scanning can be used to watch the metabolic activity of cells ...

Positron emission tomography and computed tomography (PET-CT) are two powerful technologies that provide advanced information about a patient’s cancer, its location, anatomy, and activity within the body. Using PET-CT helps to target radiation to a precise cancer location without causing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. It also improves the accuracy of a patient’s diagnosis. PET uses radioactive glucose known as Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) that is attached to fluorine-18. When cells absorb the glucose, the fluorine-18 breaks down and releases positrons and gamma rays. Since cancer cells are very active, they grow and multiply fast, taking in more sugar and emitting more gamma rays and positrons. That is why they glow brighter on PET-CT scans. Here is how PET-CT helps in cancer detection : ·          PET-CT detects cancers such as breast cancer, lymphoma, and lung cancer easily. ·        ...

Lymphoma is a type of cancer affecting the immune system. It is classified into Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. These two types are further categorized into several subtypes. Doctors use PET scans many times in the treatment of lymphoma, starting with determining the stage at which the cancer is, monitoring treatment response and giving a prognosis. It is effective for some forms of lymphoma specifically Hodgkin lymphoma and a number of the common subtypes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. PET scans remain an important part of a patient’s cancer journey and here is why: ·         The usual practice is to perform a scan before treatment begins so the doctors can find out the stage of the cancer. In some instances, the doctors may go straight to treatment and then conduct the scan afterwards for various reasons including scheduling issues or urgency of the treatment. ·         Once treatment begins, th...

When doctors need to examine the inner workings of the body, they are most likely going to recommend a PET scan. A positron emission tomography (PET) scan shows images of organs and tissues and how they are functioning. It is used in the detection of several diseases including heart disease, cancer and brain disorders. Doctors introduce a tracer into the system and areas with high chemical activity show up on the screen as bright spots. These bright spots are usually the areas affected by disease.  With cancer cells, they appear as bright spots due to its higher metabolic rate compared to normal cells. A PET scan will help detect cancer and show how far it has spread. In some instances, cancers may not show on the scan. Possible reasons include: • It is common for patients to receive a diagnosis for cancer of unknown primary. This means that the test has found cancer in areas where it spread to but hasn’t detected where it started from or the primary site. Cancers are c...

PET-CT scans are viewed as the gold standard for cancer imaging and can easily give a wide array of information. Doctors use this scan to determine whether there is cancer in the body and, if so, where exactly it is located. This helps in choosing the right course of treatment for the patient. This scan releases a dose of radiation into the body and the resulting images are crisp and precise. The procedure is generally safe for most patients. Some may worry about the amount of radiation being introduced into the body but the benefits that this scan offers far outweighs the risk. Patients asked to get a PET-CT scan should expect the following: • Patients should not eat or drink anything for six hours prior to the procedure. Water is, however, allowed. The test is conducted by first injecting sugars into the body and so it is advisable that the patient stay away from eating sugars at least 24 hours before the procedure. During the exam, sugar is given in an IV injection and the p...

Using a common brain scan, researchers used a machine-learning algorithm to diagnose Alzheimer’s in its early stage, about six months prior to a clinical diagnosis. This allows doctors to offer treatment. Alzheimer’s has no known cure, but some drugs have been used in the recent years to help control the progression of this condition. However, to be effective these treatments should be given in Alzheimer’s early stages. This has motivated scientists to come up with ways of diagnosing the condition early. The study: A recent study by Jae Ho Sohn, UC San Francisco’s resident in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, combined machine-learning with neuroimaging to predict whether a patient would get Alzheimer’s disease when they faced a memory impairment for the first time. Sohn used a machine-learning algorithm with PET scans to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease in its early stage . Sohn fed the algorithm with images from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiativ...