Quantification of Brain Function Using Pet

From The Critics

Reviewer: Dan G. Pavel, MD(University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine)
Description: This book is based on the July 1995 Symposium held in Oxford on the quantification of brain function with PET.
Purpose: Its purpose is to bring together in a timely fashion recent advances in this field. The emphasis of the symposium was on achieving maximum accuracy and formulating the proper strategies for addressing research and diagnostic questions. For this purpose, a systematic approach was chosen to address the multiple steps required to answer the diagnostic question in an appropriate manner: selection of tracers, data acquisition, processing, kinetic analysis, parametric imaging, and statistical analysis.
Audience: This comprehensive approach has the potential to interest a variety of groups and disciplines working with PET or using the results of PET: radiopharmacists, physicists, physicians, and postgraduate students involved in research or in clinical PET work.
Features: The book is divided into five parts: tracer selection, data acquisition, data processing, kinetic analysis, and statistical analysis. Good quality illustrations are provided throughout, some in color. A most useful feature is the presence of an extensive summary at the end of each part, written by a well-known expert in the field.
Assessment: The book represents an excellent source of up-to-date information in this field. Although it cannot escape the intrinsic limitations of any volume based on symposia (uneven coverage of the subject), the authors have gone to great lengths to minimize this weakness. This is accomplished by a good set of references given for every single chapter and by the summary at the end of each of the five parts. These summaries represent not only an excellent overview of the main topics addressed, but four out of the five authors have also interspersed their own most interesting views concerning the present status and the projected future developments. This book is a worthwhile addition, for a reasonable price, to be considered by libraries and individuals alike.

Dan G. Pavel

This book is based on the July 1995 Symposium held in Oxford on the quantification of brain function with PET. Its purpose is to bring together in a timely fashion recent advances in this field. The emphasis of the symposium was on achieving maximum accuracy and formulating the proper strategies for addressing research and diagnostic questions. For this purpose, a systematic approach was chosen to address the multiple steps required to answer the diagnostic question in an appropriate manner: selection of tracers, data acquisition, processing, kinetic analysis, parametric imaging, and statistical analysis. This comprehensive approach has the potential to interest a variety of groups and disciplines working with PET or using the results of PET: radiopharmacists, physicists, physicians, and postgraduate students involved in research or in clinical PET work. The book is divided into five parts: tracer selection, data acquisition, data processing, kinetic analysis, and statistical analysis. Good quality illustrations are provided throughout, some in color. A most useful feature is the presence of an extensive summary at the end of each part, written by a well-known expert in the field. The book represents an excellent source of up-to-date information in this field. Although it cannot escape the intrinsic limitations of any volume based on symposia (uneven coverage of the subject), the authors have gone to great lengths to minimize this weakness. This is accomplished by a good set of references given for every single chapter and by the summary at the end of each of the five parts. These summaries represent not only an excellent overview of the main topics addressed, but four out of thefive authors have also interspersed their own most interesting views concerning the present status and the projected future developments. This book is a worthwhile addition, for a reasonable price, to be considered by libraries and individuals alike.

Booknews

A complete overview surveying the current functions of positron emission tomography (PET) in neuroscience and investigations into brain functioning. The 83 discussions, written by researchers and practitioners in the field, cover topics in radiotracer selection, advances in instrumentation, image reconstruction and data analysis, and statistical mapping of brain activity. Each contribution focuses on functional image accuracy and strategies for answering clinical, scientific, and diagnostic questions using PET. Includes a wealth of diagrams and photographs, making the volume almost atlas-like in its quality. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

3 Stars from Doody