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What to Expect: Before, During and After

After receiving your history and copies of any prior exam results, you will receive a radiopharmaceutical injection that will be taken up by the cells in your body.  Then you will be asked to wait approximately 50 minutes while the tracer material distributes throughout your body.

Patients scheduled for a heart study may not have to wait. The radio pharmaceutical used for cardiac exams is often administered just before the scanning begins.

You will be asked to lay on a comfortable table that moves slowly through the ring-like PET/CT scanner as it acquires the information it needs to generate diagnostic images. Patients must lay very still, because movement can interfere with the results.

The exam is non-invasive, and causes no discomfort, and can last anywhere from 20-45 minutes. Then, unless the physician sees a need for acquiring additional information, you are free to leave.

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