Study: PET imaging on the rise, with PET/CT taking the lead

The PET imaging market experienced double digit growth with an estimated 706,100 clinical PET studies performed in the United States in 2003, compared with 447,200 patient studies in 2002, according to IMV Medical Information Division's 2003 PET Census Database.

The report garnered the numbers from 1,500 hospital and non-hospital sites using dedicated PET or PET/CT scanners, mobile PET or PET/CT scanners or nuclear medicine cameras with coincidence detection (NM-CD). Oncology studies comprise 93 percent of PET studies, with cardiology and neurology application comprising the remaining 7 percent.

"PET/CT scanners have quickly become the preferred technology for PET imaging as the integration of the functional PET images with the anatomical visualization of CT has allowed more accurate and faster diagnosis," said Lorna Young, senior director, Market Research at IMV. "While the proportion of PET/CT scanners (vs. PET scanners) installed in 2003 was about 50 percent, at least 90 percent of the PET units planned for purchase over the next three years will be the PET/CT scanners."

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