A closer look into ECR 2020 on hybrid, molecular, and translational imaging
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EDITORIAL
A closer look into ECR 2020 on hybrid, molecular, and translational imaging Thomas H. Helbich 1 Received: 1 March 2020 / Accepted: 5 May 2020 # European Society of Radiology 2020
Medical imaging has transformed disease diagnosis and rendered treatment of several medical conditions more effective. Increased awareness of the use of imaging devices due to advancements in technologies is driving the global market for medical imaging. The global market is expected to reach $40.56 billion in 2021, which is a dramatic increase of more than $10 billion since 2015 (https://www.itnonline.com/ article/global-medical-imaging-trends). In the field of medical imaging science, the concept of multiplexing and multimodality is providing the driving force for the development of next-generation imaging technologies. Hybrid imaging that incorporates two or more imaging modalities, imaging of tissue function, and imaging at the cellular and molecular levels translates rapidly from bench to bedside. This article provides a brief overview of key research topics in the field of hybrid, molecular, and translational imaging, which were presented at the European Congress of Radiology (ECR) 2020 and highlights the challenges of medical imaging-based research. Metabolic reprogramming plays a key role in the origin or progression of many diseases. Clinicians and patients can, therefore, benefit from a readily available, noninvasive, molecular imaging modality that provides detailed metabolic information. The most common, clinically used imaging strategy for interrogating metabolism is hybrid imaging with PET/ CT or PET/MRI. In particular, 18F fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT has widespread applications and has emerged as an indispensable tool in the detection, staging, treatment monitoring, and identification of recurrent disease. At this year’s ECR, several studies addressed the clinical utility of
* Thomas H. Helbich [email protected] 1
Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Division of Molecular and Gender Imaging, Medical University of Vienna & General Hospital, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, Floor 7F, 1090 Vienna, Austria
targeted radiotracers and showed that, in addition to 18F FDG an array of novel tracers, such as 18F fluoroethyltyrosine, 18F choline, and 68Ga-PSMA, allow more precise insight into different diseases, may serve as independent prognostic imaging biomarkers, and can help to individualize clinical management and decision-making. These techniques span the spectrum from oncologic imaging, to imaging of inflammation and neurodegenerative diseases. Considering the enormous clinical impact, a next generation of PET/CT scanner has entered the field. The work by Abdelhafez et al. aimed to characterize different aspects of this scanner’s impact on the visualization of small structures through a semiquantitative evaluation [1]. They showed that biodistribution values in small structures are higher than those usually seen from standard scanners. In addition, this next generation of PET/CT sc
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