Since May, the Nîmes University Hospital has been equipped, within the Gard Cancer Institute (ICG), with two new latest-generation digital PET scans.
Worth three million euros each, these PET scans will improve the quality of care while reducing examination time. The first PET scan has already entered into operation and the second will do so in October 2024.
What is a PET Scan?
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) coupled with a scanner is a functional medical imaging method, which consists of injecting a radiopharmaceutical drug into the patient, which attaches to the cells, then detecting the emitted radiation. The image from the PET scan then allows nuclear medicine physicians to diagnose and evaluate the effectiveness of treatments provided, particularly against cancer, and to ensure precise monitoring.
Exceptional image
The performance of the new Tep Scans was analyzed on 3 main axes: reduction of the dose injected to the patient, reduction of the acquisition time and improvement of the image quality. The evolution of the detectors with an all-digital signal processing and the addition of artificial intelligence, make it possible to achieve these objectives: reduction of 50% of the dose of radiotracer injected, an acquisition time of the order of 8 minutes and an exceptional image quality.
“We will be able to carry out examinations with improved performance. The Nîmes University Hospital now has the most efficient equipment in the entire Occitanie region, a privilege that we share with the Toulouse Oncopole alone,” rejoices Professor Pierre-Olivier Kotzki, head of the nuclear medicine department and head of the oncology unit at Nîmes University Hospital.
