PET/CT Acronyms and Phrases Defined

The soup is back from a Holiday break with our PET/CT edition! Read on to have your PET/CT acronyms decoded and defined.

4D: Technology on the CT portion of PET/CTs that not only captures the location of a tumor but also movement over time, useful when treating a tumor located near an organ that moves, sometimes referred to as respiratory gating. (UPMC Cancer Center, 2013)

ACS: Advanced Computational System, computer on a Siemens PET or PET/CT that acquires the image from the scanner, see also, ICS, IRS and PRS.

Attenuation Correction: Siemens software that takes into account the photons a patient absorbs during a study.

Auto MA: Automatic Exposure Control system, featured on GE LightSpeed-based scanners.

AWW: Advantage Windows Workstation, found only on GE product lines, used for post-processing images.

BGO: PET detector made from Bismuth Germinate and formed into a solid crystal, the most common detector on the market.

Cardiac Gating: A component added to a PET or PET/CT used when studying the heart, isolates the images that correspond to the desired point of the heart’s function using ECG signals.

CareDose: Software found on Siemens PET/CT and CTs, used to produce the same image with less radiological dose.

CTA: Coronary CT Angiogram, a specific study performed by the CT component of a PET/CT,  16-slice detectors or, preferably, 64-slice detectors are required to cover the heart region rapidly enough. (The Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 2007)

DLS4, DST, and DSTE: All acronyms for GE’s Discovery PET/CT line, see GE Discovery PET/CT Scanners Compared for more information.

DoseWise: Software found on Philips CTs, used to produce the same image with less radiological dose.

EBW: Extended Brilliance Workstation, Philips PET/CT and CT workstations.

F18: Fluorodeoxyglucose - The most common radiopharmaceutical, primarily used for oncology, commonly known as F-18, or FDG. (Radiological Society of North America, 2004) 

FOV: Field of View, the space the radiologist is focusing on when capturing and diagnosing an image.

GSO: PET detector made from Cerium-doped gadolinium silicate, GSO has the lowest atomic number of any detector and can detect across the widest energy spectrum.

HD PET: High Definition PET, uniform high-resolution throughout the field of view, featured on Siemens Biograph PET/CTs.

HiRez: Higher resolution of image quality in PET, accomplished by arranging the detectors in a ring to minimize image noise. (Journal of Nuclear Medicine, 2005)

ICS: Image Construction System, featured on Siemens PET/CT systems, main computer on the CT side.

iDose: Software found on Philips PET/CT, used to produce the same image with less radiological dose.

IRS: Image Reconstruction System, featured on Siemens PET/CT, reconstructs the image with the PET and CT images fused.

LOR: Line of Response, a line along which the positron annihilation was located. (International Atomic Energy Agency, 2009)

LSO: PET detector made from Cerium-doped lutetium oxyerthosilicate, chemical structure of the LSO allows for images to be obtained in less time than BGO.

LySO: PET detector made from lutetium-yttrium oxyorthosilicate, the fastest detectors on the market. (Iran J Nucl Med, 2009)

MHU: Million Heat Unit, refers to the “size” of an X-ray tube, i.e. the tube’s ability to dissipate heat.

N13: Nitrogen-13 Ammonia, an alternative to Rubidium82 for cardiac gated PET and PET/CT studies.

PET: Positron Emission Tomography, shows the function of the body at a cellular level through the various glucose uptake rates of different organs and tissues.

PICO-3D: Electronic component introduced by Siemens on the Biograph line that sped up detection and increased the signal to noise ratio for PET.

PRS: PET Reconstruction System on a Siemens PET/CT.

Rb82: Rubidium82, a byproduct of Strontium that is used in cardiac-gated PET and PET/CT studies.

Scatter Correction: Siemens software feature that rejects scatter to produce a clearer image from a PET or PET/CT.

Syngo^©A software solution by Siemens, multi-modality reading and image sharing built on a client-server platform. (Siemens, 2010)

Tc99: Technetium99, a radioactive agent used in PET and PET/CT

TOF: Time of Flight, excellent image quality can be achieved faster (10-30 mins) depending on the size of the patient, makes the biggest difference for the heaviest patients. (J Nucl Med, 2007)  

TruePoint: An iteration of Siemens PET/CT models (i.e., Biograph TruePoint) which, according to Siemens, “completely integrates the functional sensitively of PET with the rich anatomical detail of diagnostic multi-slice CT.” (Siemens, 2012)

TrueV: PET/CT software designed by Siemens to increase the PET field of view.

z-UHR: Ultra High Resolution, Siemens proprietary name for .24mm isotropic resolution.

If there’s a common PET/CT acronym we didn’t mention, leave us a comment below so we can expand the information above.