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Images of the first full-body 3D medical scanner, EXPLORER, have been published.
Developed by scientists at UC Davis, CT combines positron emission tomography (PET) and X-ray tomography (CT) to capture the entire body at once.
The scientists Simon Cherry and Ramsey Badawi believe that the technology will have "innumerable applications," ranging from improved diagnostics to drug research and to monitoring the progression of the disease.
The first images of human scanners from EXPLORER are due to be presented at a meeting of the North American Radiological Society on November 24 in Chicago.
"While I had imagined what images would look like for years, nothing prepared me for the incredible details we saw during this first scan," said Dr. Cherry, Distinguished Professor of UC Davis Biomedical Engineering Department.
"While there is still a lot of careful analysis to do, I think we already know that EXPLORER delivers pretty much what we promised."
Other devices can not obtain EXPLORER level details, according to its inventors
Dr. Badawi, head of nuclear medicine at UC Davis Health and vice president of research at the Department of Radiology, said he was stunned when he had seen the first images.
"The level of detail was incredible, especially when the reconstruction method was optimized," he said.
"We could see features you do not see on regular PET scanners, and the dynamic sequence of the radiotracer moving around the body in three dimensions over time was, frankly, hallucinating."
"No other device can get such data from humans, so it's really new," added Badawi.
Badawi and Cherry had the idea of the body scanner more than a decade ago, but it was only in 2011 that their idea was launched with a grant of 1.5 million US dollars. National Cancer Institute.
Another grant increase in 2015, worth $ 15.5 million (£ 12 million), allowed them to engage a business partner and build the first EXPLORER unit.
"The compromise between image quality, duration of acquisition and dose of radiation injected will vary depending on the application, but in all cases we can scan better, faster or with a lower dose of radiation, or combination of these elements, "said Mr. Cherry.
"I think we will soon see several EXPLORER systems around the world," he added.
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