After over a decade of development, the world’s first full-body medical scanner has produced its first images. The imaging device is almost 40 times faster than current PET scans and can capture a 3D picture of the entire human body in one instant scan.
Called EXPLORER, the full-body scanner combines positron emission tomography (PET) and X-ray computed tomography (CT). Following years of research, a prototype, primate-sized scanner was revealed in 2016. After expansive testing, the first human-sized device was fabricated in early 2018.
Developed in a collaboration between scientists from UC Davis and engineers from Shanghai-based United Imaging Healthcare, the very first human images from the scanner have finally been revealed. The results are being described as nothing short of incredible and the research team suggests EXPLORER could revolutionize both clinical research and patient care.
The new EXPLORER scanner offers improvements over current imaging systems. As well as offering faster scans, producing a whole-body image in as little as 20 to 30 seconds, the device is effectively up to 40 times more sensitive than current commercial scanning systems.
This means the scanner can produce detailed images using significantly lower doses of radiation tracers than are currently needed. The higher sensitivity also allows clinicians to image certain molecular targets that are beyond the limits of current scanning systems.
Perhaps the most exciting and novel application of this new scanning system is its ability to capture entire body images in single momentary scans. Current PET systems are fundamentally slow and inefficient due to the necessity of having to scan single slivers of the body at one time. Over a long stretch of 30 or 40 minutes all these smaller images are aggregated into a larger 3D image, however this significantly limits the ability of clinicians to measure the effects of something moving across the entire body in real time.
The EXPLORER promises an entirely new kind of diagnostic imaging that could, for example, measure blood flow or the way a person takes up glucose, in real time across the entirety of the body. The new imaging system still has some testing and verification ahead before it moves into commercial production.
