Dear Molecular Imaging Insider,
The incidence of cervical cancer continues to rise sharply in many countries, but hybrid imaging promises to help in an increasing number of cases.
In new research, a group combined FDG-PET with a T2-weighted MR imaging voxel segmentation method and gray-level adjustments to significantly improve accuracy, sensitivity, and negative predictive value, compared with MRI alone, in diagnosing and staging parametrial infiltration in cervical cancer. Don't miss our news report.
In a second article posted today, a Swedish-led team has described a novel technique that uses florbetapir-PET scans for tracking beta-amyloid accumulation in adults to gauge the risk of progression to Alzheimer's disease.
In other news, contrast manufacturer Bracco Imaging is moving ahead with its intent to acquire molecular imaging company Blue Earth Diagnostics. The plan is to keep the Blue Earth Diagnostics name on its products and retain the current management team, including CEO Jonathan Allis, PhD, who was instrumental in founding the company in 2014 with other researchers from GE Healthcare.
Measuring the energy of gamma rays emitted during helium-ion radiotherapy could provide real-time verification of the beam's range in the patient. German and Portuguese researchers have developed a spectroscopy unit designed to identify the signatures of 19 distinct nuclear transitions that occur when helium ions interact with various atomic nuclei near the end of the beam path.
A highlight each year at the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging meeting is the Image of the Year award. German researchers recently won the prize for their radiotracer that can detect 28 different types of cancer. The gallium-68-based radiotracer acts as a fibroblast activation protein inhibitor, targeting the overexpressed protein present in cancer.
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