First patients benefit from new PET scanner

A new total-body scanner that is quicker for the patient and produces higher quality images for faster and earlier diagnosis and treatment of illnesses like cancer and heart conditions was unveiled by Ministers at St Thomas’ Hospital.

The new Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner is one of three becoming operational in the UK. It is up to 5 times more sensitive for single organ studies and up to 2-4 times faster than standard PET-CT scanners, meaning quicker diagnoses and a more detailed reading of the patient's whole body. It is co-managed by King’s College London and Imperial College London at St Thomas’ Hospital.

Sarah Corfield was the first person to use the new scanner at St Thomas’ Hospital. Sarah, 48, has stage four melanoma and has been a patient at Guy’s and St Thomas’ since 2018. She has received regular PET scans as part of the diagnoses and treatment for her cancer.

Sarah, from Eltham in south east London, said: “I have had so many PET scans, so I’m very used to the experience. Previously, the scans would take 30 minutes, the bed was quite hard and the scanning table would move in and out, capturing the different images. It could be quite noisy too.

The new scanner was a good experience – it felt open, and not at all claustrophobic. It was much quicker – I was done in 15 minutes, and they told me the images were much higher quality. It was very smooth. I just lay there, like on a sun lounger, thinking of my little dog Maggie.

The new total-body PET scanner will also give researchers insights into human biology that ultimately leads to better healthcare.

Positron emission tomography (PET) scanning is an effective, non-invasive imaging technique that can detect diseases earlier in their development, supporting faster diagnosis. PET scanners work by detecting the radiation given off by a substance injected into a patient’s arm, called a radiotracer, as it collects in the body. By analysing the areas where the radiotracer does and does not build up, medics can work out how certain body functions are working.

The new total-body scanners work at greater speed to scan the whole body without the need for a patient to be repositioned multiple times. The higher sensitivity also allows patients to be exposed to significantly less radiation. Both mean that more people, including children, can access the power of total-body PET.

The scanners have the potential to scan 50% more patients per day than standard PET scanners, and can reveal subtle, early signs of multiple types of cancer as well as neurological, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal conditions.

Professor Ian Abbs, Chief Executive of Guy’s and St Thomas’, said: “We are proud to be one of the first sites in the UK to have this new type of PET scanner, which – with King’s College London – we will use to help the diagnosis and treatment of patients like Sarah, now and in the future.”

The scanner will feed findings into the new National PET Imaging Platform (NPIP). NPIP, which is operated by the UK’s Medicines Discovery Catapult in partnership with the Medical Research Council and Innovate UK, will build a bank of data from patients across the UK to improve diagnosis and aid researchers’ understanding of diseases, which can support the development of new medicines.

The new total-body PET scanner at St Thomas’ Hospital is the Platform’s first Government-funded system to become operational and was officially unveiled by Peter Kyle, Science and Technology Secretary and Wes Streeting, Health Secretary. Another machine will launch in Edinburgh in coming months.

Peter Kyle, Science and Technology Secretary, said: “Cutting-edge scanners like these and the intelligence they provide can help UK patients live longer, healthier lives while easing the pressure on our NHS.

"Ultimately, these kinds of medical advancements will quite literally save lives - through earlier detection, faster diagnoses and more effective treatment in complex illnesses like cancer, dementia and heart disease.

“Ensuring our world-leading researchers have access to the most advanced technology is key to them unlocking the next medical breakthroughs, in turn improving the lives of people across the UK and beyond, while also growing our economy.”

Wes Streeting, Health and Social Care Secretary, said: “St Thomas’ Hospital’s new state-of-the-art scanner is an example of the government funded innovative technology we want all patients to have access to for their NHS care.   

“This scanner can diagnose conditions quicker and provide more personalised care for patients. Through our 10 Year Health Plan we will ensure that the NHS is made fit for the future, shifting the focus from analogue to digital, hospital to community and sickness to prevention, so that we can all receive care that is timely and effective.”