First, the patient is given an injection. It's a radioactive form of glucose, like sugar that you eat everyday. The process is much different from CAT scans and MRIs, which outline bumps and lumps that shouldn't be there. Those technologies show you the structure of things, while the PET shows you the function of things. The PET scan actually tracks cell metabolism.
Cancer cells eat sugar more quickly than healthy cells.
So the machine looks for tissue that's eating the radioactive glucose at a high rate and highlights that area. And its abilities are much greater than previous versions, according to experts. Many doctors from around the world are traveling to Sacramento to see how it works. Or you can click here to get to its Web site. All rights reserved.