Fusion Imaging

Fusion imaging is the combination of the anatomic detail advantage of CT or MRI imaging with the functional imaging information of spect and PET imaging.

At right is an example of fusion imaging.

The MRI scan on the top row is computer matched to the outline of the functional scan of that same person in the middle row. The bottom row is the combination of these two, the "fused" image set.

The physician observer can thus more accurately relate the functioning status of any anatomical area. Fusion imaging has thus far been frequently applied only when imaging cancer conditions, but it is fundamentally independent of any disease process. Thus it is also be applied in cases of head trauma and stroke.