Abstract
This chapter serves as the introduction to the book, explaining the basic idea of Emission Tomography (ET) and its uses. ET is a branch of medical imaging that comprises of two main techniques, namely, positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). ET is categorized as a functional imaging approach to distinguish it from methods such as X-ray computed tomography (CT) that depicts the body's anatomy. The use of radioactive materials as a representative marker, or tracer, of natural nonradioactive substances is the foundation of present-day PET and SPECT. However, since its initial discovery, the tracer principle has been greatly enhanced by the development of artificially radioactive compounds. Imaging agents, called radiopharmaceuticals or radiotracers, can be designed to act as markers for a great variety of substances that participate in the body's natural processes. Thus, ET can yield valuable diagnostic information. Last part of this chapter focuses on the clinical applications of ET. The most common clinical applications of PET by far are in oncology, with neurology and cardiology accounting for most other clinical PET studies.
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