Quantitative imaging of coronary blood flow

Abstract

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a nuclear medicine imaging modality based on the administration of a positronemitting radiotracer, the imaging of the distribution and kinetics of the tracer, and the interpretation of the physiological events and their meaning with respect to health and disease. PET imaging was introduced in the 1970s and numerous advances in radiotracers and detection systems have enabled this modality to address a wide variety of clinical tasks, such as the detection of cancer, staging of Alzheimer’s disease, and assessment of coronary artery disease (CAD). This review provides a description of the logic and the logistics of the processes required for PET imaging and a discussion of its use in guiding the treatment of CAD. Finally, we outline prospects and limitations of nanoparticles as agents for PET imaging.

Keywords: positron emission tomography (PET); coronary blood flow; myocardial perfusion; quantitative imaging; tissue clearance; blood-tissue exchange model; oxygen-15; ammonia N-13; gamma camera; SPECT

(Published: 2 April 2010)

Citation: Nano Reviews 2010, 1: 5110 - DOI: 10.3402/nano.v1i0.5110