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CT PET Fusion (also known as PET Fusion) gives the ability to blend the structural detail of the CT and the metabolic detail of the PET into one image. This greatly enhances the diagnostic ability of both exams by further differentiating malignant from benign tumors. In many cases, the additional information of CT/PET fusion helps eliminate unneeded invasive procedures and better plan the appropriate treatment for your cancer therapy.
CT (Computed Tomography) scanning provides high-resolution images that show anatomy beautifully. But CT does not do a very good job of demonstrating physiology. Therefore, if an abnormality is seen on CT scanning, it is not always obvious if that abnormality is benign or malignant (cancer).
Cancers tend to use more glucose (sugar) than most normal tissues. The PET Fusion procedure takes advantage of this. The patient is injected with a glucose substance with a small amount of radioactivity attached to the glucose molecule. The radioactivity allows the PET scanner to obtain images of the distribution of glucose metabolism throughout the body. If the scanner shows an area of abnormally increased glucose concentration in a patient suspected of having a cancer, the abnormality can be further investigated to see if it is indeed a cancer.
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