APPLICATION
By successfully transferring radiotracer developments and technical advancements from the research setting into clinical practice, there is the potential that brain PET radiotracers will allow early visualization of most, if not all, neurodegenerative disorders, shifting forward the time point of diagnosis and treatment and thus improving the patient’s prognosis. This shift may even advance to as early as the prodromal disease stages,
many years before the first cognitive or motor symptoms occur. PET imaging may become a standard component of clinical care, allowing examination of the underlying pathology with high sensitivity.
Using molecular imaging technologies, research is under way to understand the function of specific brain regions, locate new areas of the brain affected by neurological disorders, discover strategies to treat brain disorders, create drugs and therapies, form methods of identifying individuals at risk for brain disorders, and optimize patient care.