New Exam Fuses CT and PET Technology to Battle Disease

Similar to previous scans, during a PET/CT Fusion exam patients lie on a table and are asked to remain still while they are moved through a doughnut-like cylinder that collects images.  The test lasts about 30 minutes.

Individually, PET and CT scans are entirely different studies, and each has strengths and weaknesses when it comes to detecting the presence of certain diseases.  CT scans use x-rays to create detailed two dimensional images that reveal bone, soft tissue, organs and muscle.  PET scans use a radioactive tracer linked to sugar, which is administered into the body and viewed with a camera, to determine how the sugar is metabolized.

CT scans are excellent at showing detailed differences between types of body tissue, but may not reveal the presence of a small cancer tumor or definitively show whether a tumor is benign or malignant.  Since malignant cancers grow rapidly, they take up a lot of sugar, which can easily be traced with a PET scan.  Yet PET scans do not provide the detailed information about body tissue that CT scans do.

By combining the two studies into one, not only can the presence of cancer be detected, but a precise location can be visualized as well.  This makes it easier to biopsy tumors for definitive diagnosis and can reveal whether a cancer is contained in one area or has spread.

“This technology is especially useful when trying to detect head and neck cancers, colon cancer, pulmonary nodules and lymphomas.” says radiologist Dwayne DeTurk, M.D. medical director of Salina Regional’s diagnostic and imaging department.  “The list of other cancers it can also be used for is growing all the time.  It’s allowing us to aggressively treat the disease at its earliest, most treatable stages.”

PET/CT Fusion is also becoming more widely used in heart studies, and to detect the presence of diseases of the brain. 

“We can use PET/CT Fusion to determine if a portion of the heart muscle has died as a result of a heart attack,” DeTurk says.  “It’s also useful for early diagnosis of certain brain diseases because a radiotracer picked up by PET can identify particular patterns or distributions as they are metabolized in the brain, which can be an early indication of diseases like Alzheimer’s.”

PET/CT Fusion first became available in Salina early in 2006.  Many healthcare providers have yet to invest in this technology.

“This is one more example of our efforts to be a leader for healthcare in the region,” says Terry Hauschel, R.T., Salina Regional’s radiology director.  “Catching cancer at its earliest stages only improves patient outcomes.”