Scanner That Scans the Entire Body Simultaneously

The first whole-body Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner is being developed with a budget of $15.5 million. According to Reuters, two professors from the University of California, Davis, will create the first full-body PET scanner. Positron Emission Tomography is a diagnostic imaging method in medical physics, particularly nuclear medicine, with research and preventive applications. Dr. Simon Cherry, a professor of radiology and biomedical engineering at UC Davis and a member of the research team, says, 'We will be able to understand what a cell in the body is doing and see how and at what speed these cells divide. For instance, we will find out what effect drugs have on cancer cells and whether they stop the tumor or not.' The new scanner is named Explorer. Current PET scanners can only image parts of the body, not the entire body. Dr. Ramzi Badawi, another professor of radiology and a member of the team, states: 'If you think about it, you see that no organ in the body works alone and autonomously. Our body is a system of various organs that all work together. We have never had an image of this (the simultaneous functioning of different organs together), and this is the first time it becomes possible. New doors will open to our knowledge, and this has excited us greatly.' With the findings from this new scanner, safer and more effective drugs can be developed, and the diagnosis and treatment of diseases will be faster and easier. This device will significantly increase the speed of scanning and reduce the amount of radiation delivered to the body, thereby decreasing potential risks for patients. The research team hopes to conduct the first imaging with this scanner within three years. This scanner images the body at the molecular level.