Hybrid Medical Imaging: PET-MRI

Fri., Nov. 29, 2013 3:30 p.m. - Fri., Nov. 29, 2013 4:30 p.m.

Location: TBA

PET/MRI is a hybrid imaging technology that incorporates soft tissue morphological imaging (MRI) and functional imaging (PET), and is becoming a powerful tool in patient diagnostics. It is a combination of cross-sectional imaging technology for non-invasive assessment of structural, physiological, and molecular signals characterizing cell, tissue, and organ functions. This hybrid modality leads to quantification; whereas PET allows a view of metabolic information such as that from the uptake of glucose-based radioactive tracers in the human body and the subsequent view of the activity inside a tumour, MRI provides the morphology images, and their combination provides quantification of the tumour's reconstructed image. Traditionally, PET-CT dominated oncology while PET-MR dealt primarily with neurology. Now, however, PET-MR is now moving into 3D imaging in oncology.

In this talk, the physics behind PET and MRI will be presented as well their combined use in the medical field.

Speaker: Tegan Beattie, Honours Seminar, Department of Physics