Early warning

Medical imaging, perhaps more than any other facet of diagnostic technology, has made huge strides in offering physicians a window on the structural and functional pathology associated with a variety of diseases.

The leap from X-rays to computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) then to more recent generations of imaging technology, including positron emission technology (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), has provided non-invasive methods for diagnosing disease and assessing the effectiveness of treatment. These methods enable real-time visualisation of tissue composition and function and yield greatly improved imaging specificity for diagnostic applications.

The next generation of imaging technology is emerging from advanced engineering and software applications that are enhancing the sensitivity of medical imaging and helping physicians detect and define the scope of disease even before symptoms appear, when the disease is most treatable.

Using these new techniques, often in tandem with new molecular imaging agents that 'light up' diseased cells, physicians can harness the advances in sensitivity to pinpoint the delivery of targeted treatments, maximising their therapeutic and curative potential and minimising their effects on surrounding, healthy tissue.