Novel PET imaging

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The work has the potential to produce significant improvements in the quality of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. In PET imaging a patient is injected with sugar containing a radioactive atom, usually a flourine atom. When this atom decays 2 photons are emitted which come out in opposite directions back-to-back. By detecting many of these 2 photon events an image of the source can be reconstucted. PET imaging is used for many important clinical diagnoses such as identifying cancerous tissue and diagnosing alzheimers.This would allow smaller clinical features to be seen, permit earlier and more reliable diagnosis of disease and disease progression.We have developed a new technique which will improve the sharpness and contrast of the PET image. There will be significant costs benefits to this approach. Better imaging will lead to more appropriate treatment, resulting in fewer futile surgical interventions and improved therapy choices of the increasingly expensive chemotherapies applied by oncologists.Apart from Oncology applications, there is an increasing use of PET imaging in neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer's diseaseWe will work closely with Clinicians and PET physicists in our new Clinical Research Imaging Centre (CRIC) situated at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. Our new technique is a spin off from STFC funded research for fundamental nuclear physics.