New Imaging Agent Being Tested for Early Detection of Alzheimer’s

Published on the July 25, 2011, DiagnosticImaging.com

By Whitney L.J. Howell

A new imaging agent currently in Phase III clinical trials could soon make it possible for more radiologists to see beta-amyloid — the brain plaque associated with suspected Alzheimer’s disease — through PET scans.

According to David Wolk, MD, University of Pittsburgh neurology professor, flutemetamol, a tracer molecule associated with the isotope Fluorin-18, brings the same benefit to real-time patient care that Pittsburgh B-Compound (PiB) can only bring to neurological investigations.

“Because of the PiB compound’s 20-minute half-life, it’s really only played an active role in research. It degrades so quickly that it’s not practical to use with patients in the real world — only tertiary care centers have the machinery to make PiB onsite,” said Wolk, who presented his research on flutemetamol in living patients at the International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease in Paris last week.

“With a nearly two-hour half-life, you can have flutemetamol manufactured elsewhere and delivered to you for medical scans.”

To read the article in its entirety: 
http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/pet-mr/content/article/113619/1913011

MRI/PET Machines Hit Mainstream

Published on the June 8, 2011, DiagnosticImaging.com

By Whitney L.J. Howell

Design and structure improvements in PET and MRI scanners could soon alter how you practice nuclear medicine. These changes have made combining the scans for clinical treatment a possibility, according to a presentation at this week’s Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) annual meeting in San Antonio.

The PET/MRI combination scanner first appeared in the mid-1990s in mouse-model cancer research conducted at the University of California-Davis (UC-Davis), but using it clinically has been impossible until now. Not only have MRI magnets distorted colors and images from nearby PET scanners, but there also hasn’t been enough space inside an MRI to accommodate a PET.

Those problems no longer exist. Using LCD screens instead of CRT screens in PET scanners prevents image distortion, and installing higher-performing gradients frees up space – 70 cm rather than 55 cm – to install a PET inside an MRI, says Bruce Rosen, M.D., Ph.D., radiology professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital. The wider space also reduces anxiety for patients who are claustrophobic.

Given these changes, companies, including Siemens and GE, are now working to commercialize combination scanners.

“It’s important that the technology is now advanced so these scans can play well together,” says Rosen, who delivered the SNM’s PET/MRI presentation. “Running tests simultaneously lets radiologists diagnose a problem and see how it’s working real-time. It can also save patients the inconvenience of having tests at different times.”

To read the rest of the story online: 
http://www.diagnosticimaging.com/molecular-imaging/content/article/113619/1875482?CID=rss&cid=dlvr.it