The fight against cancer, heart disease and other deadly illnesses is a constant battle. But Cape Fear Valley Health System has added a new weapon to its arsenal.

The Siemens biograph™ PET-CT scanner produces vivid pictures of the inner workings of the human body, allowing physicians to spot problems that might otherwise go undetected and untreated. It works by combining two existing imaging systems to provide the best of both worlds.

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) monitors how cells process certain compounds. Differences in processing appear on scans of the body, clearly showing areas that are of concern. For example, because cancer cells are “sugar-seekers,” a dose of glucose will go straight to cancerous areas and become clearly visible on a PET scan.

Computed Tomography (CT) produces a detailed scan of the anatomy by taking cross-section images of the body and stacking them together. The result is a sharp, three-dimensional representation of the body and all of its interior parts.

In the past, both PET and CT scans were available separately, and the only way to combine the unique input of each was to “match up” the separate images. This technique, while better than either scan on its own, was imprecise and involved a great deal of guesswork. Even slight differences in the patient’s position made it difficult to accurately line up images taken in two different machines.

PET-CT blends the functional information of PET with the anatomical accuracy of CT to produce an image of the body’s interior that is startling in its clarity. This means physicians are able to see what problems exist – and exactly where they are.

Because of its unique ability to detect and locate cancer cells, PET-CT is often associated with cancer treatment. It allows physicians to detect cancer in its earliest stages and to accurately determine how far the disease has progressed. PET-CT is also useful in planning treatments that will destroy a tumor while sparing the healthy tissue around it.

So far-reaching is the PET-CT’s power that when it was invented in 2000, TIME magazine named it the Medical Invention of the Year.