What to Expect as a PET Technologist
This blog is now focused on laboratory specialties. This article is here for your information only, as jobs are longer provided for any radiation technician specialties.
Now is a great time to be a PET Technologist, because employment is predicted to grow faster than average. There is great demand for employees in the health care field in the U.S., largely because the number of older people is growing larger. This blog will offer information about the field of PET Technology, so that those considering it can make a more informed decision.
PET is a nuclear medicine imaging technique which works by using radionuclides, which are unstable atoms that emit radiation. These atoms are used to diagnose and treat disease. A PET technologist
administers these atoms, which are compounded and purified to form radiopharmaceuticals, to patients. Then, a PET technologist watches how the tissues react to the radiopharmaceuticals in order to see abnormal areas that represent disease. The PET technologist uses cameras that map the radiopharmaceuticals in the patient’s body and creates diagnostic images. A PET technologist explains the procedure to patients, prepares the radiation dosage, administers the dosage, and then positions patients in order to scan them to see the map of the radiation in the patient’s body.
A PET technologist must be good with people because the patients they come into contact with are often anxious about the procedure, the possible results, or both. A PET technologist needs to be able to set patients at ease and answer questions for patients.
A PET technologist must be in good physical condition, because they will be on their feet most of the day and may have to lift or turn patients. Usually PET technologists work 40 hour weeks, sometimes including weekend and evening shifts. Although, there are many part time jobs available too.
Because there has been an ongoing increase in the number of middle aged and elderly people, PET technologists will enjoy fast job growth, although because the field is so specialized there may not be a great number of job openings. The field of PET technology may expand, due to technological advancement.
To become a PET technologist, one needs to complete an associate or bachelor’s degree in nuclear medicine. It is also possible to obtain an associate or bachelor’s degree in radiography, then get a certificate in PET technology afterwards. Often, a PET technologist who wants to be in a managerial position will need to complete a bachelor’s degree. If a PET technologist wants to just work in the field, then then it is usually not necessary to complete a bachelor’s degree, because an associate’s will suffice.
Learn about hiring a PET technologist, or find a job as a PET technologist.
Source:
- (December 18, 2007) Nuclear Medicine Technologists. U.S. Department of Labor, http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos104.htm
PET Technologists May Scan Cancer Patients Sooner
This blog is now focused on laboratory specialties. This article is here for your information only, as jobs are longer provided for any radiation technician specialties.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanning is normally done on lung cancer patients after the radiation treatment has been completed in order to see how the cancer reacted to the treatment. This allows the doctors to better understand the patient’s possible outcome and how likely it is that the radiation will get rid of the cancer.
However, it was recently shown by researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center that PET scanning can be done sooner to facilitate better outcomes. When a PET technologist does the scan after only a few weeks of radiation treatment, the doctor can use that scan then to see if the tumor has responded and feel confident that from that scan he/she can predict the outcome of the treatment plan they have begun. If the doctor sees that the outcome will not be favorable, they have a chance to draw up a new treatment plan because it is still so early in the treatment process.
The reason that PET scans have not been done sooner before now is that it was assumed that normal lung tissue wold react to the radiation and have a “confounding effect” causing the PET scan to not clearly show whether the tumor was shrinking. In fact, the opposite was found to be true through this research. It was found that this confounding effect was actually greater after treatment than during. So, a PET scan performed sooner will actually be a more useful image, as well as being more useful because it is done sooner.
Despite these interesting and encouraging results, it is still not known how helpful changing the treatment plan after seeing a discouraging PET scan will be. The researchers are now working on this next piece of the puzzle. If they find that lung cancer outcomes can actually be improved using this method, perhaps the standard guidelines will change for the better as a result.
Learn about hiring a PET Technologist.
Source:
- (2008) PET Scan Shows During Treatment If Radiation Is Shrinking Lung Tumor. Medical News Today http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/77241.php
PET Technologist: PET to Understand Overeating
This blog is now focused on laboratory specialties. This article is here for your information only, as jobs are no longer provided for any radiation technician specialties.
Scientists have found that the brain circuits that cause overeating are the same as those that cause drug addictions. People who overeat can testify that hunger cravings do feel like an addiction, so perhaps they will not be surprised by this finding.
The experiments conducted to discover this involve evaluating how the brain and the stomach communicate with each other using scans by PET technologists to see brain activity. The experiments were done by implanting devices into seven obese individuals that can stimulate the stomach. The devices remained in place and the experiments were conducted for 1 to 2 years.
The stimulators placed in the subjects stomachs work by stimulating a nerve that causes the stomach to expand. When the stomach expands it creates peptides that tell the brain that the stomach is full. Then, scientists were able to look at how the brain reacts to the news by analyzing PET scans done by PET technologists as well as by looking at answered to questionnaires that the subjects would fill out. The subjects were not told if their stomachs had been stimulated or not so that their answers would not be influenced by suggestion.
The PET scan results were mostly seen in the part of the brain called the hippocampus, where after stimulation metabolism was almost 20% higher. The hippocampus is involved with learning, memory, processing sensory and motor impulses and memories. The questions that the subjects answered indicated that they felt 21% less likely to eat emotionally when their stomachs were being stimulated.
These results could help in finding a way to help people get their eating under control.
Learn about hiring a PET Technologist.
Source:
- (2006, October 16) PET Provides Clues to Causes Behind Overeating. Advance for Imaging and Radiation Thereapy Professionals, 9
PET Technologists: PET Imaging to ID Abnormal Brain Patterns
This blog is now focused on laboratory specialties. This article is here for your information only, as jobs are no longer provided for any radiation technician specialties.
There have recently been several studies done on the brain using molecular imaging with positron emission tomography (PET). The PET scans were able to show that in people with untreated major depression serotonin and opioid receptors were low. There is a correlation between low numbers of these receptors and depression. They were also able to see abnormal patters of neural activity and chemical function that cause some people to be unable to experience pleasure.
These studies are useful, because they identify activity in the brain that can be related directly to symptoms. Using these results better treatment could be developed for brain disorders. Also, these studies show that brain imaging could aid in making a diagnosis of a brain disorder.
Learn more about hiring PET Technologists.
Source:
- Preidt, Robert (2008, May 6) Imaging Advances Map Brain Areas Affecting Mood. HealthDay News http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=615209
