PET-CT Technology and Treatment Center
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Overview
At AIROC Hospitals, PET-CT combines two scans in a single examination — a PET scan showing how actively tissue is using glucose, and a CT scan showing precise anatomy. Because cancer cells consume sugar far faster than normal tissue, active disease lights up on the PET images, and the CT overlay pinpoints exactly where it sits. This makes PET-CT the most accurate single test for staging many cancers, assessing whether treatment is working, and detecting recurrence.
Advanced PET-CT Imaging in Hyderabad
A CT or MRI scan shows structure — the size and position of a mass. What it cannot reliably tell you is whether that mass is active cancer, scar tissue from previous treatment, or an inflammatory node. PET-CT answers that question by imaging metabolism. A small quantity of radioactive glucose tracer is injected, taken up preferentially by metabolically active cells, and detected by the scanner. Combined with CT in the same sitting, the result is a single set of images showing both what a lesion is doing and precisely where it is.
This changes management decisions more often than most patients expect. PET-CT frequently identifies disease in nodes or distant sites that were not visible on conventional imaging, altering the stage and therefore the entire treatment plan — sometimes sparing a patient major surgery that would not have achieved its purpose. It also distinguishes residual active tumour from post-treatment fibrosis, a distinction that CT alone often cannot make. Scans are acquired on low-dose protocols and reported by nuclear medicine specialists working alongside our oncology, radiology, and surgical teams, with findings presented at multidisciplinary tumour board where they inform treatment directly. AIROC Hospitals is a NABH and JCI accredited facility operating under AERB-compliant radiation safety protocols.
When PET-CT Is Used
Cancer Staging
Determining how far a cancer has spread before treatment begins — often the single most consequential piece of information, since stage decides whether treatment is curative or palliative in intent.
Assessing Treatment Response
Showing whether a tumour is still metabolically active during or after chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or immunotherapy, allowing ineffective treatment to be changed early rather than continued for months.
Detecting Recurrence
Investigating rising tumour markers or suspicious symptoms after treatment, and distinguishing genuine recurrence from scar tissue that looks abnormal on CT but is metabolically inactive.
Lymphoma
Staging and response assessment in Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma, where PET-CT is central to standard protocols and directly determines the number of treatment cycles given.
Lung Nodules & Lung Cancer
Assessing whether a lung nodule is likely benign or malignant, and staging confirmed lung cancer including mediastinal nodes, which determines operability.
Head & Neck Cancers
Staging, planning radiotherapy fields, and post-treatment assessment where anatomy is distorted by surgery or radiation and structural imaging alone is difficult to interpret.
Cancer of Unknown Primary
Searching for the primary site when metastatic disease is found first, which can open treatment options that would otherwise remain unavailable.
Radiotherapy Planning
Defining metabolically active tumour volume so that radiation dose is concentrated on disease and spared from surrounding healthy tissue.
Selected Non-Cancer Uses
Investigating pyrexia of unknown origin, sarcoidosis, large-vessel vasculitis, suspected infection of implants and grafts, and assessment in some cardiac and neurological conditions.
Services Offered
- Whole-Body FDG PET-CT
- Staging & Restaging Scans
- Treatment Response Assessment
- Post-Treatment Surveillance Scans
- PET-CT for Radiotherapy Planning
- Regional & Limited-Field PET-CT
- Delayed & Dual-Time-Point Imaging
- Brain PET-CT
- Cardiac Viability Imaging
- PET-CT for Infection & Inflammation
- Low-Dose Protocols for Younger Patients
- Image Fusion with Diagnostic CT & MRI
- Multidisciplinary Tumour Board Review
- Digital Report Delivery & Image Sharing
The Scan Process
Booking & Preparation Instructions
You will be asked to fast for around six hours, avoid strenuous exercise for 24 hours beforehand, and given specific instructions if you are diabetic, since blood sugar levels affect image quality. Bring previous scans and reports.
Arrival & Blood Sugar Check
On arrival your blood glucose is checked. If it is too high the scan may need rescheduling, because excess circulating sugar competes with the tracer and degrades the images.
Tracer Injection & Uptake Period
A small dose of radioactive glucose tracer is injected through a cannula. You then rest quietly for around 45 to 60 minutes while it distributes — no talking, reading, or phone use, since muscle and brain activity draw tracer away from where it is needed.
Scanning
You lie on a couch that passes slowly through the scanner. Acquisition takes roughly 20 to 30 minutes. It is painless and there is no enclosed tunnel of the kind used in MRI, though you do need to stay still.
After the Scan
You may eat normally and go home. You will be asked to drink plenty of water to clear the tracer, and to keep some distance from young children and pregnant women for a few hours as a precaution.
Reporting
Images are reconstructed and reported by a nuclear medicine specialist, usually within 24 to 48 hours, and released to your treating doctor along with the images for comparison against previous scans.
Technology & Facilities
The PET-CT service at AIROC Hospitals, Hyderabad offers advanced infrastructure for accurate molecular imaging.
The facilities at AIROC Hospitals for PET-CT include:
- Digital PET-CT Scanner with High-Resolution Detectors
- Low-Dose Acquisition Protocols
- Dedicated Tracer Handling & Hot Lab Facility
- Shielded Uptake Rooms
- Image Fusion with Diagnostic CT & MRI
- Reporting by Nuclear Medicine Specialists
- Radiotherapy Planning Integration
- Multidisciplinary Tumour Board Review
- Digital Image Sharing & Archiving
- AERB-Compliant Radiation Safety Protocols