Volumetic tool guides surgery

Lesions located inside and beyond the bowel demonstrate the extent of disease in a fused PET/CT image acquired at the National Cancer Center Hospital East in Kashiwa City, Japan, using an eight-slice Discovery LS from GE Healthcare. The volumetric scan fuses data acquired during tumor uptake of FDG and contrast-enhanced CT. Such data sets typically host the reconstruction of transaxial, coronal, and sagittal slices, but, in this case, the data were fashioned into a volumetric image that served as a guide for surgical resection of the tumor. Experimental software integrated PET data regarding the tumor and CT data representing vasculature, selected soft tissue, and bone. GE has developed a commercial version, the Advantage Windows Volume Viewer Plus. (Provided by GE Healthcare)