UNM Hospital has received its first PET scan device, a state-of-the art machine that will be used for diagnostics and training in a number of health fields.
Positron emission tomography, or PET imaging, is a non-invasive way to study the biochemistry and physiologic function of the human body. PET equipment calculates metabolic activity rather than anatomic structures. It is the only method that can detect and display metabolic changes in tissue, distinguish between healthy and diseased tissue, show regional blood flow and determine the distribution of drugs in the body.
The equipment was funded by a grant from the State of New Mexico and through the efforts of former Associate Dean of Clinical Affairs Cristina Beato, who is currently U.S. Senior Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services.
With the new equipment, University Hospital will have an increased ability to effectively treat patients with a wide variety of health problems.
"PET scans have specific uses for lung, breast, head and neck cancers. It changes the approach to treatment, so the medical care is more refined and specific," said Fred Mettler, chair of the Department of Radiology at the UNM School of Medicine.
PET scans increase accuracy, effectiveness and cost efficiency Mettler said. It is extremely useful in diagnosing and staging malignancies in several types of cancer, as well as in post-treatment identification of tumor recurrence.
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PET scans can also assess neurological disorders such as dementia, intractable seizures and movement disorders.
In addition, PET is capable of defining viability and regional blood flow in cardiac patients who are considered for coronary bypasses or angioplasty procedures.
Mettler said that having a PET scan is necessary for the hospital to continue having a nationally accredited cancer treatment center and will help educate future medical students.
"PET scanning is critical for the educational process, because medical students need to know that the test exists and residents need to know about them, because they will be tested on the information and asked to interpret scans," Mettler said.
With PET imaging, a patient is given an injection of glucose and fluorine 18, a mild radioactive solution that remains radioactive for about 110 minutes. Glucose naturally moves to areas of the body with higher metabolic rates - such as the brain, or cancer tumors, while the fluorine 18 provides a radioactive trail that can be tracked by the PET. After receiving the solution, patients lie on the PET scan's diagnostic table as a computerized ring moves along the length of the body detecting the fluorine 18 trail.
"Until now, we've used a machine that is both a CT scan and PET scanner at the VA," Mettler said. "A CT scan takes about three minutes and a PET scan takes 30-40 minutes, and we'd rather be scanning three or four patients on the CT, instead of waiting for the PET to finish one person."
