Total-Body PET/CT Scanner Enables One-Minute Diagnostic-Quality Cancer Imaging

Positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) combines radiotracer-based functional imaging with anatomical detail to diagnose, stage, and monitor cancer. Conventional scanners image the body in sections, often requiring several bed positions to scan from head to thigh. The resulting examination time can be difficult for patients in pain and increase motion-related blurring. Offering a way to shorten this process, a next-generation total-body PET/CT scanner has produced diagnostic-quality images in as little as 1 minute.

In the EQUIP study, researchers at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Melbourne, Australia) evaluated GE HealthCare’s Omni 128 cm long-axial field-of-view (LA-FOV) PET/CT system. The scanner captures a larger portion of the body at once than conventional short-axial field-of-view systems and detects more radiotracer signal. These capabilities may allow shorter acquisitions while maintaining image quality.

The study included 24 participants who received one of five radiotracers: ¹⁸F-FDG, ¹⁸F-DCFPyL, ⁶⁸Ga-DOTATATE, ⁶⁸Ga-PSMA, or ¹²⁴I. Each underwent a standard-of-care scan on a conventional PET/CT system, followed by a 10-minute scan on the LA-FOV system. To evaluate shorter acquisition times, the team reconstructed images using 5, 3, 2, and 1 minute of the collected data.

Two nuclear medicine specialists, blinded to acquisition time, graded overall diagnostic quality, sharpness, lesion conspicuity, and image noise on a five-point scale. Mean scores remained in the good or excellent range across all acquisition times, including the shortest reconstruction.

Average diagnostic quality scores were 5.0 for the 10- and 5-minute images, 4.9 for the 3- and 2-minute images, and 4.5 for the 1-minute images, compared with 3.9 for the conventional scanner. All images reconstructed from at least 2 minutes of data scored four or higher in every category, while all 1-minute images scored at least three out of five.

Presented at the 39th Annual Congress of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM), the findings support further investigation of shorter PET/CT acquisitions. However, the study assessed reader-rated image quality rather than diagnostic accuracy. Larger studies are needed to determine whether very short scans reliably detect small or faint lesions and how faster imaging affects clinical workflow and patient experience.

“A 1-minute scan on this system gave us images that our readers rated more highly than the standard-of-care scans we perform every day. That was the striking finding: even when we cut the acquisition time by 90%, image quality exceeded current standard-of-care methods,” said lead author Dr. Cameron Pain.

“Total-body PET gives us choices we haven't had before. We can use its sensitivity to scan patients faster, to lower the radiation dose and to see disease more clearly,” added Pain.

Related Links
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
EANM