
Introduction to Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Imaging - salgernon
https://www.maximintegrated.com/en/app-notes/index.mvp/id/4680
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salgernon
I posted this link to ask if there are any startups or academics doing
innovative work with the data currently collected from PET scanners.

The imaging I see, and that my oncologist sees as interpreted by a
radiologist, shows a 3d spinning liver (and associated organs) where the
tumors light up brightly. Their relative brightness is read by the radiologist
to determine their size.

What I'm wondering is if the data that was captured can be re-interpreted to
provide more accurate tumor location automatically.

The linked article gives a good (IMHO) layman's explanation of the system -
but I don't understand if the final result is the image, or if somewhere in
the DICOM files there exists a machine readable data set, perhaps an XYZ
scatterplot with the gamma ray pairs represented such that you could in effect
do ray tracing to precisely place tumors and their exact size relative to
features of the relevant organ. (eg, portal vein in the liver)

Last year, this came out:

[http://makezine.com/2015/01/14/hands-on-health-
care/](http://makezine.com/2015/01/14/hands-on-health-care/)

Its relevancy to my case is that I while I have metastasis to both lobes, one
mass in particular seems to be straddling between the two, making resection
unlikely.

I'm wondering if having this information would make a surgeon's job easier? Or
if they even care? Is it pointless to pursue this because obviously smarter
people will have already thought about this?

