The main aim of the project is to compare PET-CT exams, with a PET and MR co-registration, Bhatt says. With the PET-CT baseline, they can start to figure out what the PET-MR images add. They can also try to answer specific questions: do you need simultaneous imaging to get the real advantage? Is the main benefit dose savings? What studies does it perform best at?

"Where is PET-MR better than PET-CT?" asks Bhatt. "Is it about dose, pediatrics, a specific organ?"


Although the Hong Kong installation isn't finished, researchers already know what to expect. Actually, this isn't the first such project. Last fall, a similar PET-CT-MR combo was delivered to the University Hospital Zurich in Switzerland. Already, 400 patients have gone through that system, Bhatt says. "We got a lot of great clinical feedback," he observes.

The results of the early work were also presented at SNM's June meeting, and more findings will be shared this fall, at the 2011 annual congress of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine in Birmingham, UK.

For instance, in a study led by D.W. Crook that will be presented Oct. 17 at the meeting, the researchers found PET-MR tended to outperform PET-CT in characterizing lesions in the liver, according to the abstract posted online. "While requiring confirmation, these results nonetheless suggest the potential utility of integrated PET-MR over PET-CT in the abdomen," the researchers wrote.

As the Zurich team continues their studies, Bhatt says GE is working with other sites planning similar installations. But he can't reveal their names until the projects are further along.

"There are a lot of clinical questions that need answering," he says.

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