Future Image Acquisition Trends for PET/MRI

Hybrid PET/MRI scanners have become commercially available in the past years but are not yet widely distributed. The combination of a state-of-the-art PET with a state-of-the-art MRI scanner provides numerous potential advantages compared with the established PET/CT hybrid systems, namely, increased soft tissue contrast; functional information from MRI such as diffusion, perfusion, and blood oxygenation level-dependent techniques; true multiplanar data acquisition; and reduced radiation exposure. On the contrary, current PET/MRI technology is hampered by several shortcomings compared with PET/CT, the most important issues being how to use MR data for PET attenuation correction and the low sensitivity of MRI for small-scale pulmonary pathologies compared with high-resolution CT. Moreover, the optimal choice for hybrid PET/MRI acquisition protocols needs to be defined providing the highest possible degree of sensitivity and specificity within the constraints of the available measurement time. A multitude of new acquisition strategies of PET and MRI not only offer to overcome current obstacles of hybrid PET/MRI but also provide deeper insights into the pathophysiology of oncological, inflammatory, or degenerative diseases from the combination of molecular and functional imaging techniques. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.