How Does a PET Scan Work?

NIBIB’s 60 Seconds of Science describes what is happening in the body when it goes through an ANIMAL scan.

A PET scan usages radioactive tracers to produce 3D pictures of the body. The radiation from the tracers poses little threat to the patient since they rapidly lose consciousness of the body. The sort of tracer used will depend on what the medical professional is looking for. Typically when searching for cancer, physicians utilize FDG, a modified type of glucose. The isotope connected to the carrier molecule produces little particles called positrons, which engage with surrounding electrons. The resulting release of photons is detected by the FAMILY PET scanner and translated into an image through computer system processing.

Music by longzijun ‘Chillvolution.’.

For more details on PET scans: http://www.nibib.nih.gov/science-education/science-topics/nuclear-medicine

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