NIH Clinical Center Positron Emission Tomography (PET)

The PET Department, CC, functions as a core facility that supports basic, translational, and clinical research using PET. It is a vertically integrated facility, with resources to produce positron-emitting radionuclides, manufacture PET radiopharmaceuticals in a cGMP facility, and use them to image CC patients. Our staff includes cyclotron engineers, radiochemists, physicians, physicists, radiopharmacists, imaging technologists, and regulatory/quality assurance experts.

Resources include:

• Two GE PETtrace cyclotrons on the B3 level of Bldg 10, installed in 2000 and 2007, and refurbished in 2017. These produce PET radionuclides in routine use:
  • O-15 (half-life: 2 min)
  • N-13 (half-life: 10 min)
  • C-11 (half-life: 20 min)
  • F-18 (half-life: 110 min)
  “Non-traditional” radionuclides with specialized labeling properties:
  • Cu-64 (half-life: 12.7 hr)
  • Y-86 (half-life: 14.7 hr)
  • Zr-89 (half-life: 3.3 d)
• A cGMP facility on B3 to manufacture PET radiopharmaceuticals for clinical research, in compliance with FDA regulations. The facility has 19 hot cells in 3 clusters; one cluster is shared by NIMH.
• Four PET scanners:
  • Two Siemens PET/CT scanners installed in 2011 and 2016
  • A GE PET/MR installed in 2022
  • A NeuroExplorer brain PET/CT installed in 2025
• Ancillary resources include:
  • A radiopharmacy to dispense PET radiopharmaceuticals
  • A lab to analyze blood radioactivity
  • Computer resources for image processing and archiving

Services provided include research PET/CT and PET/MR scans in humans under IRB-approved clinical research protocols and shipments to PIs of cyclotron-produced radionuclides and cGMP radiopharmaceuticals for human use. (Clinically-indicated PET/CT scans are done by the Nuclear Medicine Section / Radiology Dept, CC.)

PET is a component of the translational and clinical research programs of PIs in many ICs. It is used to study normal physiology, disease pathophysiology and diagnosis, drug mechanisms, and the effects of novel treatments. Scans are done in patients with neuropsychiatric disease, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, infection, neuroendocrine disorders, and cancer. A core PET facility in the IRP allows PIs to leverage their clinical research resources and patient base, and the CC’s in- and out-patient facilities, adding an important dimension to their research. All PET activities and services support intramural research.