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Livingston, NJ - The Imaging Center at the Saint Barnabas Ambulatory Care Center in Livingston is proud to announce the arrival of the new Siemens biograph 16-slice PET/CT scanner. This equipment combines the premier technology from PET and CT to create an evolutionary new diagnostic imaging tool. The new multi-functional scanner combines two scanning techniques – the PET (Positron Emission Tomography), which shows different functions in the body, and the CT (Computed Tomography), which shows detailed structural anatomy. The PET/CT scan permits accurate tumor detection and localization for a variety of cancers, including melanoma, lymphoma, lung, colorectal, head and neck, and ovarian cancers. The enhanced imaging tools can also provide early detection of the recurrence of cancers, revealing tumors that may otherwise be obscured by the scaring that results from surgery and radiation therapy.
A PET exam detects changes in cellular function; changes in your body that can not be seen physically. Therefore, PET provides information that enables your physician to make an early diagnosis before any physical symptoms are experienced. A CT scan uses a combination of X-rays and computers to give the radiologist a quick and non-invasive way to observe inside your body. Physicians are presented with 3-D images for in-depth clinical evaluation. When these two scans are combined together, your physician can view metabolic changes in the proper anatomical context of our body.
The PET/CT scan enables doctors to obtain increasingly defined 3D images from the inside of the human body with only one system and during one appointment. “The ability to pinpoint the exact location of disease paired with the ability to predict and monitor the outcomes of therapy will provide earlier and more accurate treatment of disease. Doctors will use the PET/CT scan to provide patients with information that may help to specify and improve treatment and possibly reduce the risk of surgical procedures. The single scan brings together both functional and anatomical information in order for patients to get the best care in the most efficient manner,” explains Letty Lutzker, MD, Chief of Nuclear Medicine at Saint Barnabas.
The entire scan is generally performed in less than one hour, while providing comprehensive diagnostic information to the doctors quickly. The system is designed to be very accessible and comfortable for patients, while providing exceptional image quality and accuracy of diagnostic information.
For more information and to schedule a patient for a PET/CT test, please call the Saint Barnabas Imaging Center’s express PET/CT registration line at (973) 322-7888.
Date: September 15, 2006
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