A labelled glucose analogue an indirect probe to measure energy metabolism

1 A labelled glucose analogue an indirect probe to measure energy metabolism 

A widely used molecular probe in PET imaging is the glucose mimic 2-deoxy-[ F]fluoro-D-deoxyglucose (FDG), which has been snccessfiilly employed in neurological, cardiovascular and oncology investigations. This probe has a relatively long half-life of 109 min, which makes its prodnction/utilization in hospitals more practical than probes based on other radionnclides with shorter half-lives. 

One of the most important advantages of PET in comparison to other techniques is its extraordinary sensitivity. In contrast, it has relatively poor spatial resolution and the short half-lives of positron emitters makes it an expensive technique since an in-house cyclotron is required. 

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