Pediatric Applications of Hybrid PET/MR Imaging

Hybrid PET/MR imaging systems have recently become available for clinical practice. The simultaneous physiologic and anatomic imaging offers the potential to reduce radiation dose and other advantages for pediatric patients. Issues more unique to pediatric imaging, however, must also be addressed, including imaging time and disease sensitivity. Combined with newer tracers and a concerted multidisciplinary effort, the approach has the potential to substantially improve the imaging of a variety of pediatric diseases.