Effectiveness in Head and Neck Cancer Detection Using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Insert Device

We have developed a prototype PET insert device that can be integrated into a clinical PET/computed tomography (CT) scanner to improve its image resolution to approximately 2.5 mm in all 3 dimensions within a reduced imaging field of view (FOV). This zoom-in imaging capability provides 6-fold improvement in volumetric image resolution over the current state-of-the-art clinical PET scanner, offering a tremendous opportunity for cancer imaging applications, in particular for those cases where a lymph node involvement will drastically alter the patient management plan. Accurate diagnosis and staging of head-and-neck cancer is known to be challenging because of the complex anatomy and large number of lymph nodes involved in this region. As a result, head and neck cancer imaging is an ideal candidate for evaluating the clinical usefulness of this novel imaging device.