Under the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (MIPPA) of 2008, those sites providing the technical component of advanced imaging must have accreditation by 2012—but not all imaging centers are waiting for the deadline. A case in point is that of the Frye Care Outpatient Imaging Center, which is operated by the Frye Regional Medical

Recently, the value of PET/CT in cardiac imaging has extended beyond the assessment of myocardial viability and perfusion. The combination of PET and CT allows a comprehensive assessment of both structure and function in a single setting and has demonstrated its use in diagnosing and managing coronary artery disease.

Global concern for imaging-based patient radiation dose continues its surge. Recent patient CT radiation overexposure cases in the U.S., studies relating CT scans to higher incidences of cancer and extensive media reporting on radiation exposure have given the issue of radiation exposure during imaging exams an increasingly high profile.

Molecular imaging is playing a key role in direct visualization of stem cells that would allow monitoring of homing and engraftment and survival of transplanted cells in the target tissues, says Antti Saraste, MD, PhD, a cardiologist at Turku PET Centre, Turku University Hospital in Finland.

FDOPA PET is showing promise in diagnosing, guiding initial selection of therapy in movement disorders and monitoring functioning of dopamine cell implantation.

Theyve been a long time coming. In December 2009, the FDA released its long-awaited response to the Food and Drug Modernization Act of 1997, signaling a change in the guidelines for PET radiopharmaceutical production which are slated to go into effect on Dec. 12, 2011.

This issue of Molecular Imaging Insight addresses various important areas of molecular imaging. The need for reducing radiation dose in molecular imaging is paramount, and is a topic that has gained considerable public attention. Obviously, the ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) principle applies to PET/CT imaging.

While the recent influx of funding for comparative effectiveness research (CER) from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) has brought heightened attention to the field in the United States, such well-designed studies have been effectively implemented in Europe, Australia and Asia for the purposes of evaluating molecular imaging technologies and techniques.