A simultaneous PET/MRI breast scanner based on the RatCAP

We propose to develop a high resolution scanner for simultaneous PET and MRI breast imaging that is capable of providing highly sensitive and specific breast cancer examinations. The addition of high resolution positron emission tomography capability to an existing dedicated MRI system will give a device in which each of the modalities contributes its strengths to compensate for the weaknesses of the other. In this combined modality scanner, we have the anatomical information from the MRI to compensate for the somewhat poorer resolution in PET, and we have the predictive power of PET in identifying the type of lesion to overcome the high false positive rate of MRI. This device is based on the technical approach used in the RatCAP scanner with the innovation of detecting coincident events in separate rings of the RatCAP scanner. We are presenting the design and GATE simulations of the full breast imaging system and preliminary PET and MRI results from the prototype system.