The future of PET/CT

To reach our vision to see—and quantify—a whole new world of detail, we believe it is not enough to simply focus on a single system component. We must innovate in multiple areas, so that a real clinical impact can be achieved. That’s why we are focusing our efforts on:

Sensitivity: Wouldn’t it be valuable to expand the footprint of PET in cancer staging to create a greater impact in areas such as breast and prostate cancer diagnosis? By listening to expert opinions in the industry, we are researching improvements in spatial resolution, temporal resolution and overall system performance.

Specificity: What if it were possible to have more precise information about a disease state to help guide treatment decisions? For example, clinical experts say that motion management is mandatory in cardiovascular imaging because it may help to enable insights into additional structures such as valves or plaques in coronary arteries. By focusing our research efforts on improvements and advances in motion management, such as dynamic and motion-free imaging, our goal is to develop systems that provide the additional information needed to help determine the most appropriate course of treatment.

Quantification: What if the role of PET could be expanded in therapy monitoring and as an end-point in clinical trials? By evaluating new absolute quantitative measurements, we aim to provide more accurate and reproducible clinical information to improve patient care. Experts believe that one day it may be possible to reduce, or even solve the challenges faced when assessing response to therapy.