PSMA PET PROCEDURE

Other than the following few things, there is no extra preparation needed for the PSMA PET scanning:

• It is recommended that you fast for four to five hours prior to the test.
• On arrival, staff will ask you some questions to make sure you are prepared for the test
• Then a line (needle) will be placed into a vein in your arm. A PET tracer (PSMA) will then be injected through the line.
• After the radioactive PSMA tracer has been injected into the patient's vein and into their bloodstream, they are asked to relax for an hour.

       The entire PSMA PET scan procedure takes about 2 hours.

• Approximately 90 minutes after the injection, you will be positioned on the PET scanner, and the CT scan will be performed followed by an initial PET scan (this takes approximately 25

minutes).

• Once the scan is complete, we will remove the line from your arm and check all the images.
• The PSMA does not stay in your body for long (it has a very short half-life, which means that it leaves your body very quickly). The images will then be reported by our doctors.

About 30 to 40 minutes are needed for the scanning process. Usually, if more imaging is not required, the patient is instructed to return.

Written By

Ms. Simran Kaushal

Technologist (Nuclear Medicine)