There may be other risks depending on your specific medical condition. Be certain your healthcare provider knows about all of your medical conditions. Certain factors or conditions may interfere with the accuracy of a PET scan, including:.
Tell your healthcare provider if any of the above situations may apply to you. PET scans may be done on an outpatient basis or as part of your stay in a hospital. Procedures may vary depending on your condition and your healthcare provider's practices. While the PET scan itself causes no pain, having to lie still for the length of the procedure might cause some discomfort or pain, particularly if you have recently had surgery or a joint injury.
The technologist will use all possible comfort measures and complete the procedure as quickly as possible to minimize any discomfort or pain. Be sure to move slowly when getting up from the scanner table to avoid any dizziness or lightheadedness. You will be instructed to drink plenty of fluids and empty your bladder often for 24 to 48 hours after the test.
This will help flush the remaining radioactive tracer from your body. The IV will be removed, and the site will be checked for any signs of redness or swelling. Tell your healthcare provider if you notice any pain, redness, or swelling at the IV site after you go home. This may be a sign of infection or other type of reaction. Your healthcare provider may give you other instructions after the procedure, depending on your particular situation. Before you agree to the test or the procedure, make sure you know:.
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These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Necessary Always Enabled. Non-necessary Non-necessary. Garda Medical. How to obtain Public Hospital Funding. State the Clinical indication for the scan is: a. PET is actually a combination of nuclear medicine and biochemical analysis. Used mostly in patients with brain or heart conditions and cancer, PET helps to visualize the biochemical changes taking place in the body, such as the metabolism the process by which cells change food into energy after food is digested and absorbed into the blood of the heart muscle.
PET differs from other nuclear medicine examinations in that PET detects metabolism within body tissues, whereas other types of nuclear medicine examinations detect the amount of a radioactive substance collected in body tissue in a certain location to examine the tissue's function.
Since PET is a type of nuclear medicine procedure, this means that a tiny amount of a radioactive substance, called a radiopharmaceutical radionuclide or radioactive tracer , is used during the procedure to assist in the examination of the tissue under study. Specifically, PET studies evaluate the metabolism of a particular organ or tissue, so that information about the physiology functionality and anatomy structure of the organ or tissue is evaluated, as well as its biochemical properties.
Thus, PET may detect biochemical changes in an organ or tissue that can identify the onset of a disease process before anatomical changes related to the disease can be seen with other imaging processes such as computed tomography CT or magnetic resonance imaging MRI.
PET is most often used by oncologists doctors specializing in cancer treatment , neurologists and neurosurgeons doctors specializing in treatment and surgery of the brain and nervous system , and cardiologists doctors specializing in the treatment of the heart. However, as advances in PET technologies continue, this procedure is beginning to be used more widely in other areas. PET may also be used in conjunction with other diagnostic tests, such as computed tomography CT or magnetic resonance imaging MRI to provide more definitive information about malignant cancerous tumors and other lesions.
Originally, PET procedures were performed in dedicated PET centers, because the equipment to make the radiopharmaceuticals, including a cyclotron and a radiochemistry lab, had to be available, in addition to the PET scanner. Now, the radiopharmaceuticals are produced in many areas and are sent to PET centers, so that only the scanner is required to perform a PET scan.
Further increasing the availability of PET imaging is a technology called gamma camera systems devices used to scan patients who have been injected with small amounts of radionuclides and currently in use with other nuclear medicine procedures. These systems have been adapted for use in PET scan procedures. The gamma camera system can complete a scan more quickly, and at less cost, than a traditional PET scan. PET works by using a scanning device a machine with a large hole at its center to detect photons subatomic particles emitted by a radionuclide in the organ or tissue being examined.
The radionuclides used in PET scans are made by attaching a radioactive atom to chemical substances that are used naturally by the particular organ or tissue during its metabolic process.
The radiotracer is a radioactive sugar. The one commonly used is called FDG fluorodeoxyglucose. Cancer cells are very active when they are growing and reproducing in a specific area. They need energy to grow. So, active cancer cells take up the FDG which then shows up brighter on the scan.
Your radiographer takes you into the scanning room. The PET machine is large and shaped like a doughnut. They can see you on a TV screen or through a window from the control room.
You can talk to each other through an intercom. The couch slowly slides backwards and forwards through the scanner. The machine takes pictures as you move through it. The scan is painless but can be uncomfortable because you have to stay still. In most places the radiographer will be able to play music for you. They can also help your doctor decide which treatment you need and whether your treatment is working.
Voiceover : For some scans you should not eat for 4 to 6 hours beforehand, for others there is no preparation. Your appointment card will give you details of what you need to do. One you have changed into your gown the radiographer will weigh and measure you. Then you have an injection of a very small amount of a radioactive drug called a tracer. This is what shows up on the scan. The drug is usually a form of glucose. Voiceover : After the injection you rest for about an hour.
This allows the tracer to spread through your body. The scan shows up cancer because they use glucose in a different way from normal tissue.
When you are ready for the scan the radiographer helps you lie on the couch in the correct position. Radiographer : I am just going to pop this under your knee, just to help your back stay comfortable.
Nothing is going to touch you or anything like that. You must keep very still. Close your eyes, because this light is quite bright. Voiceover : Once you are in position and comfortable the radiographer will leave the room.
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