Whole-Body MR/PET Hybrid Imaging: Technical Considerations, Clinical Workfl ow, and Initial Results

These days we are eyewitnesses to an exciting new hybrid imaging modality to enter the clinical arena, namely simultaneous whole-body MR/PET imaging. Envisioning the combination of the excellent soft tissue contrast, high spatial and temporal resolution, and functional tissue parameters that MR provides with the high sensitivity of PET, different technical approaches have been pursued by researchers and by the industry to work on the integration of two formerly ‘non-integrable’ imaging modalities. With the recent introduction of the Biograph mMR, Siemens has launched a 3.0 Tesla whole-body MR hybrid system that hosts in its isocenter a fully integrated PET detector and that with its 60 cm patient bore enables whole-body simultaneous MR/PET imaging. Researchers, radiologists, and nuclear medicine physicians have been waiting and actively been working on the advent of this hybrid imaging modality for a long time [1–3]. A detailed overview about the pre-clinical developments, the Whole-Body MR/PET Hybrid Imaging: Technical Considerations, Clinical Workfl ow, and Initial Results