UR Medicine introduces digital PET/CT technology
UR Medicine has begun using Upstate New York’s first digital PET/CT system which offers higher quality images faster and more safely and comfortably than ever before. The images allow physicians to make diagnosis and treatment evaluations with greater ease.
“We’re very pleased to offer our patients this important advancement in diagnostic imaging,” said David Waldman, M.D., Ph.D., chair of Imaging Sciences. The technology is located at UR Medicine’s Outpatient Imaging Center on East River Road, near the University of Rochester Medical Center campus.
The Vereos PET/CT (positron emission tomography/computed tomography) is a powerful diagnostic tool that is particularly patient-friendly and has a very short patient tunnel. This can ease anxiety for people who are apprehensive about the full enclosure of traditional imaging technology, Waldman said.
A PET scan uses a substance called a radioactive tracer which, when it enters the body, becomes absorbed into the body’s organs and tissues. 
The PET scanner highlights the tracer, revealing metabolic activity within the body. These metabolic “hot spots” can reveal disease states before structural damage is evident.
This early detection may alter the course of action. For instance, a physician may be able to avoid sending a patient for a biopsy or another invasive procedure, which could help lower the cost of care.
PET is commonly used in cancer care, providing valuable information for clinicians to make diagnosis when other tests are inconclusive, stage the extent of cancer, and monitor for disease recurrence.
With the new system, PETscans are performed simultaneously with CT scans, which reveal the location of diseases within the body. The combined imaging study offers both types of scans in a single exam.
The Outpatient Imaging Center is located at 200 East River Road, easily accessible from the I-390 corridor. The facility includes a dedicated interventional radiology clinic to expand the use of minimally invasive, image-guided procedures to diagnose and treat diseases. Imaging experts also provide x-ray, ultrasound, both 1.5T (Tesla) and 3T (Tesla) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), fluoroscopy, as well as Nuclear Medicine, which includes single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT, SPECT-CT).
UR Medicine Imaging is the largest diagnostic imaging provider in the Finger Lakes region, with a dozen satellite locations in the region in addition to affiliate hospitals.
—URMC PR, April 2018 (read the original NewsCenter story here.)
