The Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Department provides services in the following areas:
Cyclotron
A cyclotron is a type of particle accelerator. Cyclotrons accelerate charged particles using a high-frequency, alternating voltage (potential difference). A perpendicular magnetic field causes the particles to go almost in a circle so that they re-encounter the accelerating voltage many times.
For several decades, cyclotrons were the best source of high-energy beams for nuclear physics experiments; several cyclotrons are still in use for this type of research.
Cyclotrons can be used to treat cancer. Ion beams from cyclotrons can be used, as in proton therapy, to penetrate the body and kill tumors by radiation damage while minimizing damage to healthy tissue along their path.
Cyclotron beams can be used to bombard other atoms to produce short-lived positron-emitting isotopes suitable for PET imaging.
Radiochemistry
Radiochemistry is the chemistry of radioactive substances. Radioactive isotopes are very useful as tracers to study the mechanisms of complex organic reactions because even minute amounts of these isotopes are easily detected by means of a Geiger counter or photographic film. For example, by feeding plants carbon dioxide that contains the radioisotope carbon-14 and by monitoring the carbon compounds through the plants' life cycle, the intermediate stages of the photosynthetic process can be determined.
Quality Control
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Imaging
The visual representation of an object, such as a body part, for the purpose of medical diagnosis or data collection, using any of a variety of usually computerized techniques.
Modeling and Physics
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Nuclear Medicine
The branch of medicine concerned with the use of radioisotopes in the diagnosis, management, and treatment of disease. Nuclear medicine uses small amounts of radioactive materials or radiopharmaceuticals, substances that are attracted to specific organs, bones, or tissues. The radiopharmaceuticals used in nuclear medicine emit gamma rays that can be detected externally by special types of cameras: gamma or PET cameras. These cameras work in conjunction with computers used to form images that provide data and information about the area of body being imaged. The amount of radiation from a nuclear medicine procedure is comparable to that received during a diagnostic X-ray.
Tomography Imaging
The process for generating a tomogram, a two-dimensional image of a slice or section through a three-dimensional object. Tomography achieves this remarkable result simply by moving an X-ray source in one direction while the X-ray film is moved in the opposite direction during the exposure. This makes images in the focal plane appear clearer ('sharper'), whereas structures in other planes appear blurred.