PET/CT has transformed oncology imaging over the past two decades, combining the metabolic sensitivity of positron emission tomography with the anatomical precision of multi-slice CT. Today it is the recognised standard of care for staging many cancers, assessing treatment response, and guiding radiation therapy planning. For facilities considering a PET/CT programme, the infrastructure and operational requirements are considerably more complex than for CT or MRI alone.
Radiopharmacy requirements
PET imaging requires a cyclotron-produced radiopharmaceutical, most commonly 18F-FDG, delivered within a narrow time window governed by the 110-minute half-life of fluorine-18. Facilities not adjacent to a cyclotron facility must rely on commercial radiopharmacy delivery networks with confirmed daily delivery windows. The viability of a PET programme depends entirely on reliable isotope supply.
Radiation shielding and hot lab
PET scanner rooms require significantly heavier radiation shielding than CT rooms. A hot laboratory for patient preparation, dose calibration, and radiopharmaceutical handling is also mandatory. These infrastructure requirements must be assessed during site planning — retrofitting an existing CT room for PET/CT is typically feasible but requires significant investment.
Refurbished PET/CT systems
The refurbished PET/CT market is led by Siemens Biograph, GE Discovery, and Philips Gemini platforms from 2010 onwards. Crystal detector performance, coincidence resolution, and sensitivity are the critical quality parameters. Specify and verify detector efficiency as part of any refurbished PET/CT evaluation.