June 15, 2012 — Several groundbreaking studies on the Naviscan PET scanner, the breast application for which is positron emission mammography (PEM), were presented this week at the annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) in Miami, Fla. Researchers from the Johns Hopkins University, Thomas Jefferson University, Boston University and University of Washington presented abstracts focusing on use of novel radiotracers, new clinical applications as well as low-dose imaging with PEM.
Mathew Thakur, M.D., from Thomas Jefferson University presented results of an ongoing head-to-head comparison of 18F-FDG with a novel low-dose radiotracer Cu-64-TP3805 (NuView Life Sciences, Park City, UT) demonstrating concordance. This is significant since the dose from Cu-64 is similar to one mammogram and does not require fasting indicating a potential for PEM to be used in a screening capacity. Richard Wahl, M.D. of Johns Hopkins University presented results on feasibility of using the technology for metabolic assessment and evaluation of treatment response for patients with osteoarthritis. Gustavo Mercier, M.D. from Boston University and Lawrence MacDonald from University of Washington shared clinical and research validations of performing PEM imaging using 50 percent less radiation.
PEM imaging shows the location as well as the metabolic phase of a lesion. This information is critical in determining whether a lesion is malignant and influences the course of treatment by providing an ability to distinguish between benign and malignant lesions, what researchers term “specificity.” Recent studies have demonstrated that PEM has similar sensitivity and higher specificity than breast MRI. The scanner is the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration-cleared, CE-certified 3D molecular breast imaging (MBI), device on the market with biopsy-guidance.
For more information: www.naviscan.com
October 07, 2026 
