Positron Emission Tomography Analysis

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Positron emission tomography, (PET), is an invasive brain imaging method. It involves injecting a patient with a radioactive isotope and this then accumulates in blood vessels within the brain. When this part of the brain is activated, the radioactive isotope moves quickly to that area. The positrons emitted from this are measured by a scanning machine. A computer system analyses this data and turns it into visual representations of the activity levels within different areas of the brain. PET has average spatial resolution - active areas within the brain are able to be detected within 5-10mm. PET however has lots of limitations. One is that it's temporal resolution is ver poor. It can't detect the quick alterations in brain activity that is