What is a PET Scan and How Does it Work?

A PET scan tracks an injected radioactive substance throught the body to search for cancer and coronary artery disease. CREDIT: Hospital image via Shutterstock View full size image

Because positron emission tomography is a mouthful, radiologists call it a PET scan for short.

Doctors often use the diagnostic exam often to detect cancer and measure the effects of cancer treatment. The test can also monitor blood flow to the heart and hunt for signs of coronary artery disease. In patients with memory disorders, doctors use PET scans of the brain to look for brain tumors that can be surgically removed.

Here's how it works. A nurse injects a patient with a radioactive substance that attaches to a compound in the body such as sugar, called glucose. The patient then lies down on an exam table and is passed through the PET scan, which looks like a large donut. Rings in the machine detect the emission of energy from the radioactive substance in the body.

The exam results in an image of different colors and brightness. Healthy tissue uses glucose for energy, which will appear on a PET image as a bright color. But cancerous tissue has higher levels of glucose, and attracts more of the radioactive substance, which appears as brighter colors on a PET image.

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