Title: The integration of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) will transform medical imaging

Hybrid imaging has been a growing area in medical imaging. This has been driven by: a) the complimentary information provided by different technologies and b) the growing awareness that functional, metabolic and molecular events often occur in times too short to be captured by sequential imaging by different modalities. To address these needs Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have been integrated into one platform. To achieve this PET technology had to be significantly modified and MR technology appropriately adapted. The technical challenges that have been met and the future benefits anticipated will be presented.