PET/CT outperforms the sum of its parts

By: Jane Lowers, Special Projects Editor

One of the great challenges of radiology this decade is for imagers to learn to read more intuitively. After years of mentally morphing axial CT slices into 3D images, radiologists can now use workstations that perform that step for them. While a natural outcome of looking at corresponding PET and CT images is to mentally fuse them, software and hybrid scanners now make that step more accurate.

PET and PET/CT are new enough that it will be years before we fully understand their potential to influence patient care. Already, however, the ability to line up anatomic and metabolic images accurately is making a difference-sorting out malignancies from normal regions of uptake and allowing for more precise radiation therapy targeting.

While the technology may make imaging and therapy planning more precise and intuitive, the business side still faces challenges. Reimbursement varies from payer to payer, and there is no consensus on exactly what to bill for on a study that combines the two modalities. Practices launching a PET/CT program must carefully plan their new venture from all angles, including marketing to referring physicians and calculating the daily throughput needed to pay for the investment.

Even in the face of such challenges, the potential of clearer, more defined images is fueling rapid growth for PET/CT. At this point, taking the guesswork out of fusion appears to be paying off.