Brain-Dedicated Emission Tomography Systems: A Perspective on Requirements for Clinical Research and Clinical Needs in Brain Imaging

Research applications of human brain positron emission tomography (PET) imaging have been in place for over 40 years. The unique combination of quantitative PET instrumentation and reconstruction, novel radiotracers, and kinetic modeling has led to the development and application of a huge number of imaging paradigms. These have been applied to the understanding of normal function and pathophysiology, the development of drugs for neuropsychiatric disorders, and the study of drug interactions with the brain. I have had been fortunate to be part of this great endeavor throughout my research career, using brain-dedicated PET scanners, such as the HRRT [item
[1]
in the Appendix]. Over time, these systems have offered important advantages over whole-body systems. However, due to the limited clinical market for brain PET imaging, scanner manufacturers have focused exclusively on large field-of-view systems for the past two decades [item
[2]
in the Appendix]. The goal of this perspective is to share a viewpoint on the utility of brain-dedicated PET systems for human research, particularly in the context of novel radiotracers with dynamic studies using kinetic modeling.