PET: Position Emission Tomography

This powerful tool is now available at our Cancer Center.  Each Friday, a mobile PET scanner arrives and registered nuclear medicine technologists at EIRMC perform the scans.  Board-certified radiologists from EIRMC's Medical staff interpret them.

PET doesn't replace MRI or CT as an imaging tool.  Instead, PET is used alongside existing technologies as a "complement."  Together, they provide a great deal of useful information.

PET scanning is used primarily for cancer diagnosis and staging, although it does have applications for cardiology and neurology.

Unlike MRI and CT scans, which show only anatomic images, PET scans show metabolic activity.  The test is very safe and painless.  The imaging radiation is low and leaves the body quickly.  The patient can resume normal activities almost immediately.

PET imaging can also eliminate the need for costly redundant test or exploratory surgical procedures.  Unlike other tests, it shows images of most of the body -- from the base of the skull to the base of the pelvis --essentially, a whole-body scan.

Currently, the only other Idaho hospitals offering PET are in Boise. EIRMC estimates that 200-250 patients will have PET scans in the next year.