Simultaneous PET and NMR

There is currently great interest in combining data from different imaging modalities, either by image registration methods that are performed after the data has been acquired or using new devices that can acquire data from two modalities simultaneously, or near simultaneously. In this paper a small prototype NMR-compatible PET scanner capable of acquiring PET images simultaneously with either NMR images or NMR spectra is described. In an associated paper [1], Pamela Garlick describes some investigations of cardiac metabolism that have been made using this system. One of the main challenges in constructing an NMR-compatible PET scanner is that photomultiplier tubes, which are an essential element of nearly all current PET systems, will not function in a high magnetic field. In collaboration with Simon Cherry and the Crump Institute of Biomedical Imaging at UCLA Medical School, a small (5.4 cm diameter) NMR-compatible PET scanner that will operate within the bore of an NMR magnet has...