New Combo PET-MRI Debuts in Missouri Hospital

A hospital in Missouri is said to be the first in the United States to utilize a new imaging device that simultaneously performs PET and MRI scans, according to researchers at Washington University in St. Louis. The combination scanner reportedly requires less radiation than a PET-CT device. And other PET-MRI combination devices conduct each scan separately. With a combined scan should make it easier to combine data from both scans to produce enhanced results, according to a university press release. “We think PET-MRI will be particularly helpful in understanding certain types of malignancies, such as cancers of the brain, neck and pelvis,” says Robert McKinstry, MD, PhD, director of the Center for Clinical Imaging Research and professor of radiology and of pediatrics, based on the release. “The anatomy is very complex in those areas, and combined PET-MRI should produce a more detailed reading of the intricate boundaries between disease and healthy tissue.”