ABSTRACT
PET, as a representative of functional imaging, has been shown to support accurate diagnosis of malignant disease (Gambhir et al. 2001), as well as providing essential information for early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases (Herholz and Heiss 2004) and malfunctions of the cardiovascular system (Knuuti 2004). Nonetheless, more than 90% of all PET examinations are performed for oncology patients. PET is based on the use of trace amounts of radioactively labeled biomolecules that are injected into the patient whereby the distribution of the tracer is followed by detecting the annihilation photons resulting from the emission and annihilation of the positrons (Chapters 1 and 9).
