Image source Recently, a co-worker in her 20's was diagnosed with a brain tumor! At times like these, the importance of medical imaging jumps to the fore! Most people have heard of CT ("CAT") scanners – at least enough to know that they don't actually involve cats – but less well-known are PET scanners (which likewise don't involve pets!), and the synergistic combination of the two. A Marriage Made in Heaven What do those scanners do? And why are they being combined in single devices? Voted 2018 Breakthrough of the Year by a science magazine , the improved PET/CT combined scanner has been a game changer. The EXPLORER PET/CT scanner – the world’s first medical imaging system that can capture a 3D image of the entire human body simultaneously – has produced its first human images. Developed by UC Davis scientists and a multi-institutional consortium, EXPLORER can scan up to 40 times faster, or use up to 40 times less radiation dose, than