The standard or usual workup for cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer's Disease, may
include brain amyloid PET with PET/CT or PET/MR imaging. Amyloid PET is the standard
imaging that was requested for you by your referring physician. This imaging can
visualize your brain.
With the development of new therapies for Alzheimer's disease which require amyloid PET
imaging, there will be a significant increase in the number of PET scans needed to
provide care to all patients. There are likely not enough PET scanners in Canada to meet
this demand. Therefore, we are searching for comparable alternatives. One of the imaging
devices that was introduced in the clinic is the Radialis PET imager (or RPI). Health
Canada, the regulatory body that oversees the use of devices in Canada, has not approved
the sale or use of the Radialis PET imager. Health Canada has allowed the Radialis PET
imager to be used in this study. We would like to see whether the images obtained for the
brain are comparable to those obtained from a PET/CT or PET/MRI scanner. It is a new type
of PET imaging device for patients undergoing a PET scan and has been used in Canada for
research. RPI is experimental, meaning that this PET scan is not used routinely in
patients' care.
In comparison to the standard PET devices, RPI is smaller and mobile, meaning it can be
moved around easily for use. Also, it can be installed in imaging centers at a lower
cost. These advantages make RPI an interesting alternative to the standard PET. However,
the performance of this new imaging device has not been tested in Amyloid PET imaging in
particular.
As you may know, in a PET scan, we inject a radioactive material (called tracer) which
can circulate in your body and visualize specific areas in your body. In amyloid PET we
inject an amyloid tracer that goes to the brain and lights up certain regions of the
brain.
RPI was previously tested for other PET tracers and was shown to be comparable to
standard PET devices. Thus, by changing the PET material (to Amyloid), we are pursuing
the same aim: comparison of RPI with standard PET devices and see whether it can provide
comparable images of the brain.
