Naviscan has reported that Alliance Imaging, a division of Alliance Healthcare Services, will be offering mobile Positron Emission Mammography (PEM) imaging services in the state of Florida.
Alliance Imaging will be providing turnkey service which includes transporting the PEM scanner from site to site, a technologist to perform the scan and the necessary radiopharmaceutical, 18F-FDG. When fully implemented, it is anticipated that the service will cover a variety of hospitals, imaging centers, and dedicated breast centers throughout the state of Florida.
Alliance Imaging has added the service to continue its commitment to offer advanced diagnostic imaging services to its customers, as PEM imaging has increased in demand. Recently, additional results from an NIH-sponsored study (Grant 5R44CA103102) comparing PEM and breast MR were released further demonstrating PEM’s clinical appropriateness.
The study showed that PEM not only demonstrated a six percent improvement in specificity at comparably high sensitivity, but that PEM also recommended 31 fewer unnecessary biopsies and had 26% higher Positive Predictive Value (PPV) than breast MR. The results are also particularly significant for those women who cannot tolerate an MR exam and require an alternate imaging tool.
PEM scanners are high-resolution breast PET systems that can show the location as well as the metabolic phase of a lesion. The information is critical in determining whether a lesion is malignant and influences the course of treatment. Other imaging systems, such as mammography and ultrasound, only show the location, not the metabolic phase. PEM scanners, which are about the size of an ultrasound system, are manufactured by Naviscan and have been commercially available since 2007.