Positron Emission Tomography Service
St. Luke’s PET/CT scanner: A fusion of the latest in medical imaging
St. Luke’s Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Service, is the first in the Philippines to offer the PET/CT scanner. The technology fuses the latest technology in PET scanning with the high-resolution 64-slice CT scanner, the most advanced kind of CT scanner in the Philippines to date. This machine performs a PET scan and a CT scan successively in one session. The result is the most sensitive and accurate medical images to date. Its images are so precise that it can detect cancers too small for any other non-invasive test to detect.
St. Luke’s PET/CT scanner is the first PET/CT scanner in the Philippines, and the first in Southeast Asia to fuse PET with a 64-slice CT scanner.
Clinical uses
St. Luke’s PET/CT scanner can reveal cancers even before changes in anatomy are apparent with CT or MRI. The CT component can determine the tumor’s exact location, size and configuration. This will greatly help physicians plan treatment. PET/CT scanning can also help search for metastasis (spread) and monitor treatment response. While a plain CT scan may show remnants of the tumor, the PET component will reveal whether this is active cancer or just scar tissue left over from cancer treatment.
In addition, a PET scan can be used to evaluate signs of coronary artery disease. PET scans of the brain can be used to evaluate patients who have memory disorders, brain tumors or seizure disorders.
The radioactive pharmaceuticals used in PET emit very minute amounts of radiation, and have very short half-lives and do not remain in the body for long. Hence, one should not fear any side effects from radiation exposure. Unless one is an infant or is pregnant, there is also no reason to avoid interaction with a person who recently underwent PET scanning.
The St. Luke’s value
St. Luke’s PET/CT scanner is a true fusion in every sense. In addition to fusing two technologies, it also fuses two disciplines. All St. Luke’s PET/CT scans are read and interpreted separately by internationally trained nuclear medicine specialists and CT radiologists. The readings are then integrated into one final, very comprehensive report.
All these make St. Luke’s PET/CT scanner truly one of the world’s best.
St. Luke’s PET scanners operate using the country’s first cyclotron.