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PET/MRI: The Blended-Modality Choice of the Future?^*

¹ Nuclear Medicine Technology Program, Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences, School of Health Professions, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; and ² Montgomery Cardiovascular Associates, Montgomery, Alabama

Correspondence: For correspondence or reprints contact: Norman E. Bolus, MPH, CNMT, UAB NMT Program, 1705 University Blvd., SHPB, Room 441, Birmingham, AL 35294-1212. E-mail: bolusn{at}uab.edu

ABSTRACT

This article addresses the emerging technology of PET coupled with MRI, or PET/MRI, which could become the technology of choice in the future for many reasons. Some of these reasons will be discussed, along with a historical account of the field of MRI and how this modality has evolved to include many aspects of molecular and functional imaging. After reading this article, nuclear medicine technologists should be able to provide an overview of the history of MRI, discuss PET and how it is mainly used today melded to CT as PET/CT, discuss how MRI is used diagnostically, explain how PET technology and MRI technology are able to function simultaneously together as PET/MRI, discuss some issues concerning who will operate these new units, and discuss the possibility that PET/MRI could be the blended technology of choice in the future.

Key Words: positron emission tomography; computed tomography; magnetic resonance imaging; PET/MR imaging