Positron-Emission Tomography
Synonyms
PET Scan
PET Scans
Positron Emission Tomography
Scan, PET
Scans, PET
Tomography, Positron Emission
Tomography, Positron-Emission
An imaging technique using compounds labelled with short-lived positron-emitting radionuclides (such as carbon-11, nitrogen-13, oxygen-15 and fluorine-18) to measure cell metabolism. It has been useful in study of soft tissues such as CANCER; CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM; and brain. SINGLE-PHOTON EMISSION-COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY is closely related to positron emission tomography, but uses isotopes with longer half-lives and resolution is lower.