PET/CT enables high sensitivity imaging of the human biology and molecular processes in vivo. PET/CT can be used for diagnosis, treatment response prediction and monitoring in oncology, hematology, cardiology and for studying pathophysiology of brain diseases and in rheumatology. With our advanced image analysis methodologies in combination with PET/CT imaging we can better characterize e.g. oncological and neurological diseases, with the ultimate aim to improve diagnosis and treatment efficacy. Moreover, PET plays an important role in the development and evaluation of new drugs.

PET/CT imaging at Amsterdam UMC

PET/CT is a non-invasive medical imaging modality allowing to visualize and to quantify biological and molecular processes in the human body, in vivo. At the Amsterdam UMC there is a strong focus on the use of PET/CT for e.g. the diagnosis, treatment response prediction and response monitoring of patients with various oncological diseases, to investigate immunological processes in oncology and rheumatology and to study the pathophysiology of brain diseases. Within our drug development program, PET/CT is also used to study the efficacy of new drugs and/or to early monitor treatment responses.

Total body PET/CT

A major limitation of the current PET systems is the poor image quality of low count studies, such as with 89Zr labelled drugs. There is need to asses drug uptake and its distribution more accurately. Amsterdam UMC is equipped with an innovative total body PET/CT system, with a large axial field of view (large anatomical coverage) and an ultra-high sensitivity. With this innovative and unique total body PET system unprecedented possibilities to non-invasively study molecular processes real time and simultaneously over all major organs become reality. Total body PET provides unique opportunities to localise, track and quantify disease-specific diagnostic tracers, radio-labelled therapeutic drugs and cells, such as natural killer- or CAR-T-cells.