DES PLAINES, Ill., Aug. 4 -- An estimated 456,200 positron emission tomography (PET) procedures were performed in the US in 2002 -- an increase of 79 percent from 255,300 procedures in 2001, according to a market report by IMV Medical Information Division, a marketing research and consulting firm. The PET procedures were performed in 1080 hospital and non-hospital sites, using fixed PET scanners, including dedicated PET or PET/computed tomography (CT) scanners, mobile PET scanners or nuclear medicine cameras with coincidence detection. Oncology procedures comprise 92 percent of PET procedures, with cardiology and neurology applications comprising the remaining 8 percent, IMV said. "This dramatic procedure growth is facilitated by the increased availability of options for providers to offer PET imaging services at their facilities," said Gail Prochaska, vice president of IMV. "Sites using mobile PET are up 122 percent, to 600 sites, and sites with fixed PET scanners are up 63 percent, to 325 sites, according to our 2002 PET Census. This growth in PET has also been facilitated by the increased availability of radiopharmaceuticals from commercial suppliers, as well as innovations in PET technology, such as PET/CT and improved crystal capabilities, to increase patient throughput and the quality of the imaging study." For more information, visit: www.imvlimited.com