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WINSTON-SALEM, January 17, 2005 -- The newest imaging technology in the country that combines positron emission tomography (PET scans) and computerized tomography (CT scans) into one procedure is now being used by doctors at Forsyth Medical Center. The new technology improves physician diagnostics and treatment of cancer, cardiovascular disease and neurological disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.

Until recently, patients being tested for a number of diseases were required to undergo two separate imaging processes - a CT scan to locate the disease and a separate PET scan to measure the progress of the disease.

With the new PET/CT scanner at FMC, both of these tests are combined into one diagnostic procedure that not only gives doctors a better look at the disease, but means less time under the scanner for patients. The new diagnostics can be preformed in just 30 minutes with the patient remaining on the same table for the entire test.

By using this new technology to generate combined, or fused, PET/CT images, doctors at FMC join their counterparts at the top medical centers in the country to offer more precise diagnosis and treatment planning to their patients. FMC is the first medical center in the region to have PET/CT scanning.