German scientific council plays up PET (positron emission tomography) potential:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The German government's scientific council (Wissenschaftsrat) has urged hospitals and clinics to push for positron emission tomogrophy (PET) to be included in the catalogue of reimbursable procedures. It claims that increased clinical use of PET over the past 10 years has contributed greatly to the diagnosis of cancerous tumours and coronary heart disease, as well as neurological diseases such as epilepsy, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease. The Wissenschaftsrat has, however, said that the scientific potential that PET offers as a biochemical in vivo analysis method is only in the preliminary stage of development. It therefore suggests that in future PET investment for research purposes should be concentrated around PET centres of excellence that are able to exploit its use to the maximum.