Welcome to New England PET at MVH
1-888-560-4738

New England PET Imaging System was established in April 2000 as New England’s first community hospital-based provider of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) services. Our mission is to provide patient-focused care in a personal and friendly setting, offering the highest levels of medical care and quality service. Our mobile PET/CT scanner is available at Merrimack Valley Hospital on Fridays from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Please call 1-888-560-4738 to book a study. Please notify us at least 24 hours in advance to reschedule an appointment.

About PET
PET is the most advanced cancer imaging test available, allowing cancer to be detected more quickly and accurately, often without the need for additional imaging or invasive procedures. For example, a PET scan can determine if a lesion or tumor is benign or malignant. In many cases, this can be determined without a biopsy or the removal of the organ or tissue. PET can define the full extent of cancer at the time of diagnosis, guiding physicians in the optimal use of surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy treatment.

What Is PET/CT?
PET/CT combines in one single study the functional information of PET with the anatomical information provided by a CT scan. This PET/CT information will enable your physician to pinpoint the exact location of interest and helps in making an accurate diagnosis.

What To Expect During a PET/CT Scan
You will need to allow 2-3 hours for the completion of the PET/CT scan. Prior to the procedure, a small amount of a radioactive "tracer" is injected into the bloodstream. Then, you can relax in a quiet room for up to 90 minutes to allow the tracer to circulate through your body. At that point, you lay on a table that passes slowly through the PET/CT scanner, which looks much like a typical CT scanner. The scanner creates an image of your body and metabolic process within organs and organ systems and takes 20 to 30 minutes.

What The PET/CT Scan Can Detect
PET/CT can track the progress of the disease and how the body is responding to treatment, allowing physicians to seek alternative therapies for those patients who are not responding to treatment. PET/CT scans detect recurrence of cancer long before other imaging tests would reveal it, giving physicians an early indication when additional treatment is needed.

In addition to its advances in cancer detection, PET/CT is used for early detection of heart and neurological diseases. PET/CT is the most accurate test to reveal whether heart tissue is alive and will benefit from a bypass surgery. PET/CT can also detect and define brain disorders, including Alzheimer's and seizure disorders.

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