Early detection of cancer is one of the primary goals in

medical imaging. Several major imaging modalities have

been extensively used in the detection of variety of
cancers.
Please describe the applications of CT, MRI, and PET in
cancer detection and compare the advantages and
disadvantages of these modalities.
Medicalimagingisthetechniqueandprocesstocreatevisual
representationsoftheinteriorofthehumanbodyforclinicalanalysisand
medicalintervention.Ithelpsmedicalpractionerstoseeinternal
structureshiddenbytheskinandbones,allowingthemtodiagnosethe
diseasemoreaccurately.Inthisaspect,itisveryeffectivetodetectcancer
cellsthatproliferatewithinthebody,andcarryoutearlytreatment.Many
imagingmodalitiesareinventedtoservethispurpose,namely
ComputerizedTomography(CTScan),MagneticResonanceImaging
(MRIScan)andPositronEmissionTomography(PETScan).
CTisanimagingprocedurethatusescomputerprocessedcombinations
ofmanyXrayimagestakenfromdifferentangleswithahelicalscanner
toproducecrosssectionalimagesofspecificareasofascannedobject.
Usually,acontrastmediumwillbegiventopatients,whichallowthe
structuretobedisplayedmoreclearly.Acomputeranalysestheimages
anddisplayadetailed2Dimageofthestructure.Basedonthis,repeated
Xrayscanswillhelptodetectabnormalstructureswithinthebody,like
cancer.
MRIisanimagingprocedurethatutilizesmagneticfieldsandradio
wavestoformclearimageswithinthebodystructure.Thepatientin
placedintoascannerwithaverystrongmagnet,wherethemagneticfield
alignsthenucleiofhydrogenatomswithinthebodyinonedirection.
Radiowaveswillthenbereleasedtochangethedirectionofhydrogen
nucleis,andwillgiveoutasignalwhentheyreturntotheiroriginal
position.Acomputertakesthesignalsfromthesechangesandconverts
themintoaclearimage.Contrastmediumsaretakenbythepatientto
speeduptherateoftissuesrespondingtomagneticandradiowaves,
hencegeneratingclearerpictures.Cancerisacoagulationofcellsdueto
abnormalcellgrowth,sotherewillbeamassofsignalsreleased,which
makescancerdetectionmucheasier.
PETscanisafunctionalimagingprocedurethatinvolvestheplacement

ofapositionemittiongradionuclideintothepatientsbody,whilethe
systemdetectsgammaraysreleasedbythetracer.Ascannerrecordsthe
signalsreleasedfromtheradioactiveraysanditdisplaysanimageofthe
bonesandorgansofthepatient.Ascancercellstendtouseupmore
energythanhealthycells,moreradioactivesubstanceisabsorbed,which
allowseffectivedetectionofabnormalgrowth.

CTScan

MRI

PET

Advantages

Quickand
painless
Usefulin
screening
colonand
lungcancer

No
ionizing
radiation
involved
Excellent
softtissue
constrast
Clearer
images
compared
toCT
scans
Effective
forbrain,
primary
boneand
spinalcord
tumour
detections

Oftenused
to
complement
CTandMRI
scans
Showshow
different
partsofthe
body
functionand
candetect
problems
muchearlier
Cancheck
howfara
cancerhas
spreadand
howwell
treatmentis
working

Disadvantag
es

Unreliable
infinding
tumours
thatare
lessthan2
cm
Increased
riskof
cancer

Scanneris
noisy
Procedure
islengthy
Injection
ofcontrast
medium
cancause
kidney

Increased
riskof
cancerfrom
exposureof
ionising
radiation
(XRays)
Radioactive
material

from
exposure
ofionising
radiation
(XRays)
Injectionof
contrast
medium
cancause
kidney
problems
orresultin
allergic
reactions
forsome
people
Some
procedures
require
anaesthesia

problems
orresultin
allergic
reactions
forsome
people
Cannotbe
usedif
electronic
implants
(e.g.Heart
pacemaker
)ispresent
inpatients

maycause
allergic
reactionsin
somepeople