Keeping with the spirit of technological innovation initiated by Charles F. Kettering, the second most prolific inventor next to Thomas Edison in terms of patent applications, Kettering Medical Center continues a long-standing tradition of early adoption of technological advances for patient care. Kettering Medical Center was the first hospital to bring Computerized Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to the Dayton area for patient care. Introducing the most advanced technology into clinical practice at the earliest possible stage has significantly helped many patients in our community.

A revolutionary new advance in medical imaging called Positron Emission Tomography (PET), initially started out as a research tool in the early 1970’s. It began to have clinical applications in the early 1980’s. Unlike CT and MRI, which are structural imaging techniques, PET scanning provides images of metabolic or biochemical processes. For the first time in medicine, physicians were able to obtain metabolic information of organ systems as images in a non-invasive and reliable manner, which was extremely useful in providing the optimal patient care. Toward the end of the 1980’s, it became clear that PET has enormous clinical potential and in keeping with the Kettering tradition of early adoption of promising medical advances, and thanks to an innovative and forward thinking administration, the decision was made to bring PET to Kettering Medical Center.

With a generous grant of 2.5million dollars from Mrs. Virginia Kettering and with matching funds from the hospital, the PET facility was established at a cost of about 5 million dollars. The facility became operational in the fall of 1990 and consists of a cyclotron to produce short-lived radioisotopes, an elaborate chemistry laboratory to synthesize a wide-range of radiopharmaceuticals, and a PET scanner to obtain metabolic or functional images. The facility is staffed by board certified nuclear medicine physicians, as well as Ph.D. physicists and radiochemists, radiopharmacists, highly trained PET technologists, and specialized PET nurses who provide care for patients and research subjects.

In 1998, through the efforts of congressman Dave Hobson, Kettering Medical Center was able to obtain a federal grant, which allowed an upgrade to a state-of-the-art, high resolution PET scanner that is now routinely used for patient care and research.

With an in-house cyclotron and scientific staff, the KMC PET department is able to do perform routine studies as well as the highly specialized PET studies, which most other facilities cannot perform. Because of this, Kettering has become a resource for the entire region and is often called upon to do complex PET studies for patients from Cincinnati, Columbus and other parts of Ohio.

Currently, research projects at KMC are underway that focus on cancer (brain, lung, prostate), cerebrovascular disease, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. KMC PET is also involved in several projects to evaluate new drugs for pharmaceutical companies.

The medical, scientific, technical, nursing and administrative staff at KMC possess a decade of experience, which is only secondary to three other clinical PET institutions in the country. The KMC PET staff is here to assist you, including consultation regarding the utility of PET scanning for a particular patient or to answer any questions.