Future Prospects of Positron Emission Tomography-Magnetic Resonance Imaging Hybrid Systems and Applications in Psychiatric Disorders

• Published in: Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 15; no. 5; p. 583
• Main Authors: Son, Young-Don, Kim, Young-Bo, Kim, Jong-Hoon, Kim, Jeong-Hee, Kwon, Dae-Hyuk, Lee, Haigun, Cho, Zang-Hee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 08.05.2022; MDPI
• Subjects: Brain research; Design; FDA approval; high resolution; hybrid imaging; Magnetic fields; Magnetic resonance imaging; Mental disorders; Physical properties; positron emission tomography; psychiatric disorders; Review; Sensors; Tomography; United States > US; magnetic resonance imaging; hybrid imaging; positron emission tomography; high resolution; psychiatric disorders
• ISSN: 1424-8247; 1424-8247
• DOI: 10.3390/ph15050583

A positron emission tomography (PET)-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) hybrid system has been developed to improve the accuracy of molecular imaging with structural imaging. However, the mismatch in spatial resolution between the two systems hinders the use of the hybrid system. As the magnetic field of the MRI increased up to 7.0 tesla in the commercial system, the performance of the MRI system largely improved. Several technical attempts in terms of the detector and the software used with the PET were made to improve the performance. As a result, the high resolution of the PET-MRI fusion system enables quantitation of metabolism and molecular information in the small substructures of the brainstem, hippocampus, and thalamus. Many studies on psychiatric disorders, which are difficult to diagnose with medical imaging, have been accomplished using various radioligands, but only a few studies have been conducted using the PET-MRI fusion system. To increase the clinical usefulness of medical imaging in psychiatric disorders, a high-resolution PET-MRI fusion system can play a key role by providing important information on both molecular and structural aspects in the fine structures of the brain. The development of high-resolution PET-MR systems and their potential roles in clinical studies of psychiatric disorders were reviewed as prospective views in future diagnostics.