Pertinent Insights on the Evolution of Amyloid PET imaging for Patients with Alzheimer’s Disease
In a recent interview, Matthew Hulse, a certified nuclear medicine technologist, discussed the evolution of amyloid PET imaging in managing patients with Alzheimer’s disease, the impact on PET imaging volume and the emergence of quantification platforms for monitoring treatment efficacy.
For patients with suspected Alzheimer’s disease, amyloid PET imaging provides a viable non-invasive and highly efficient option for detection, according to Matthew Hulse, a certified nuclear medicine technologist. An hour after the patient has an IV injection, Hulse said one can obtain high-quality images at low radiation exposure within 10 to 15 minutes.
“Its ability to actually visualize the amyloid plaques in the brain is extremely efficient to the point that we can even quantify how many plaques there are (and) where they're deposited throughout the brain because you only need a few regions of positivity to qualify for the treatments,” noted Hulse, the director of nuclear medicine and PET at SimonMed Imaging in Mesa, Az.
In a recent interview with Diagnostic Imaging, Hulse said the emergence of FDA-approved disease-modifying therapies in recent years for Alzheimer’s disease and the accompanying need to monitor treatment effectiveness has led to an explosion of amyloid PET volume.
“ .. We have a completely new third leg, basically, of our business now with amyloid (PET) imaging, and it's even so dominant in some regions, we're seeing that previously where they were doing all the other types of exams, but majorly FDG PET and PSMA PET, they now have over a 70 percent amyloid (PET) volume,” pointed out Hulse.
Additionally, Hulse noted that the use of amyloid PET quantification platforms has transformed communication about the potential impact of disease-modifying therapies for patients who have Alzheimer’s disease.
“These pictures are telling a story that we weren't able to give a patient a year ago. … A patient comes in and they have treatment, and now we're able to run (PET scans) through these new quantification platforms that are presentable enough that a doctor can look at them side by side with a patient and show them: this is your disease before and this is your disease after. Then they also see the cognitive improvement happening during that time. To me, it's giving hope in a space that really didn't have much before so it's very exciting,” maintained Hulse.
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