PET/CT Unit

​Nuclear imaging exploits a fundamental property of certain unstable atoms, namely that they will undergo radioactive decay by either directly or indirectly emitting gamma photons. By Labelling biological molecules of interest with positron-emitting radionuclides it becomes possible, using specialised equipment, to image the three-dimensional location of these radiopharmaceuticals​. This imaging is performed with a positron-emission tomography (PET) scanner which is routinely combined with a conventional (x-ray) computed tomography (CT) system. The combined ability of such PET/CT systems to quantitatively and dynamically image the behaviour of radiolabelled molecules (radiopharmaceuticals​​) with a high degree of accuracy, and to localise their distribution precisely with the anatomical definition provided by​ CT​, has revolutionised biological research.