Emory Radiology Is First in Georgia to Offer Fully Integrated PET-MR Imaging
By Sam Marie Engle
The Emory University Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences now offers something no one else in Georgia does: 3.0T whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and time-of-flight whole-body positron emissions tomography (PET) in a single, integrated scanner. The General Electric SIGNA™ PET-MR with QuantWorks is the first of its kind in Georgia and represents a significant resource not only for improved patient care but also for advances in cutting-edge research. The new machine is located at Emory University Hospital on the Clifton Campus.
Advancing Patient Care
Advantages of this technology for diagnostic purposes include the following:
PET-MR imaging has broad clinical value for patients in oncology, neurology, cardiology, psychiatry and other departments. For example, a patient with a suspected neuroendocrine tumor normally undergoes PET imaging using the radiotracer DODATATE and separate abdominal/pelvic MR. Now the patient could be scanned once using the PET-MR and the patient's medical team would have the information needed to determine whether the patient was a candidate for surgery or directed liver therapy. Similarly, the new PET-MR scanner can scan for recurring prostate cancer using the Emory-developed Axumin with PET at the same time as pelvic/abdominal MR.
Physicians who suspect recurrence of cervical, endometrial, ovarian, and even rectal cancer or who are concerned about metastatic cancer not seen with CT, traditionally order FDG-PET (fluorodeoxyglucose) imaging, which detects metabolically active tumors, plus abdominal/pelvic MR for their patients. They now can order an imaging study using the new PET-MR scanner, which will yield a more complete view of disease presence and process, which in turn allows for a more nuanced approach to determining treatment options.
Patients who experience seizures routinely undergo both MR and FDG-PET imaging. The new Signa PET-MR scanner can accomplish both scans and provide physicians with an integrated view of brain function and anatomy for diagnosing the cause and planning treatment.
Starting in mid-June, physicians may order PET-MR imaging studies following standard scheduling procedures and specifying PET-MR imaging for patients who previously would have been recommended for medically necessary, separate PET and MR imaging. Physicians with clinical questions may contact Dr. David Schuster ([email protected]), director of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging.
Advanced Technology for Research Innovation
For researchers, the simultaneous acquisition of neurochemical changes from MR spectroscopy or physiological/functional data from functional MRI (fMRI) data and molecular or metabolic images from PET enables multi-model investigation of closely coupled biological events and new dimensional data at the same point-in-time under the same physiological and pharmacokinetic conditions.
Use of the PET-MR imager is divided 60-40% between and research and clinical activities, with the research time primarily supporting NIH-funded projects in neurology, oncology, psychiatry, cardiology and basic neuroscience. Research activities are managed by the Emory University Center for Systems Imaging Core. For more information about research opportunities and scheduling, please contact Orman Simpson, Jr. ([email protected]), administrator, or John Oshinski, PhD ([email protected]), director.
Emory Radiology acquired the new GE SIGNA™ PET-MR with QuantWorks with funding from an NIH S10 High-End Instrumentation grant to principal investigator Hui Mao, PhD, professor of radiology and imaging sciences, and supplemental funding from Emory Healthcare.
Enjoy the installation slideshow below.
The Emory University Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences now offers something no one else in Georgia does: 3.0T whole-body magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and time-of-flight whole-body positron emissions tomography (PET) in a single, integrated scanner. The General Electric SIGNA™ PET-MR with QuantWorks is the first of its kind in Georgia and represents a significant resource not only for improved patient care but also for advances in cutting-edge research. The new machine is located at Emory University Hospital on the Clifton Campus.
Advancing Patient Care
Advantages of this technology for diagnostic purposes include the following:
- Reduced procedure time, essential for compromised patients such as those with Alzheimer's disease of advanced age;
- Better co-registration of anatomic MR images with metabolic and molecular PET images;
- Improved motion correction;
- Much more efficient workflow with same-set and simultaneous acquisitions of PET and MR data; and
- Reduced radiation dose using non-ionized MRI instead of x-ray CT for anatomical information.
PET-MR imaging has broad clinical value for patients in oncology, neurology, cardiology, psychiatry and other departments. For example, a patient with a suspected neuroendocrine tumor normally undergoes PET imaging using the radiotracer DODATATE and separate abdominal/pelvic MR. Now the patient could be scanned once using the PET-MR and the patient's medical team would have the information needed to determine whether the patient was a candidate for surgery or directed liver therapy. Similarly, the new PET-MR scanner can scan for recurring prostate cancer using the Emory-developed Axumin with PET at the same time as pelvic/abdominal MR.
Physicians who suspect recurrence of cervical, endometrial, ovarian, and even rectal cancer or who are concerned about metastatic cancer not seen with CT, traditionally order FDG-PET (fluorodeoxyglucose) imaging, which detects metabolically active tumors, plus abdominal/pelvic MR for their patients. They now can order an imaging study using the new PET-MR scanner, which will yield a more complete view of disease presence and process, which in turn allows for a more nuanced approach to determining treatment options.
Patients who experience seizures routinely undergo both MR and FDG-PET imaging. The new Signa PET-MR scanner can accomplish both scans and provide physicians with an integrated view of brain function and anatomy for diagnosing the cause and planning treatment.
Starting in mid-June, physicians may order PET-MR imaging studies following standard scheduling procedures and specifying PET-MR imaging for patients who previously would have been recommended for medically necessary, separate PET and MR imaging. Physicians with clinical questions may contact Dr. David Schuster ([email protected]), director of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging.
Advanced Technology for Research Innovation
For researchers, the simultaneous acquisition of neurochemical changes from MR spectroscopy or physiological/functional data from functional MRI (fMRI) data and molecular or metabolic images from PET enables multi-model investigation of closely coupled biological events and new dimensional data at the same point-in-time under the same physiological and pharmacokinetic conditions.
Use of the PET-MR imager is divided 60-40% between and research and clinical activities, with the research time primarily supporting NIH-funded projects in neurology, oncology, psychiatry, cardiology and basic neuroscience. Research activities are managed by the Emory University Center for Systems Imaging Core. For more information about research opportunities and scheduling, please contact Orman Simpson, Jr. ([email protected]), administrator, or John Oshinski, PhD ([email protected]), director.
Emory Radiology acquired the new GE SIGNA™ PET-MR with QuantWorks with funding from an NIH S10 High-End Instrumentation grant to principal investigator Hui Mao, PhD, professor of radiology and imaging sciences, and supplemental funding from Emory Healthcare.
Enjoy the installation slideshow below.