A wide variety of tests can be used to determine if a patient has brain
injury, and PET (positron emission tomography) is one of them. PET scanning
technology relies on the fact that the brain stores glucose, and by tagging the
glucose inside the brain with a radioactive tracer, the PET scanner can
identify the areas of the brain where glucose is underutilized.
With PET scans
being a useful imaging tool for brain injuries, experts now believe that it can
be an indispensable tool in monitoring the brains of NFL players and athletes
in other contact sports. Recently, scientists discovered that they can use PET
scans to look for brain injury and repair markers in the brains of active and
retired NFL players.
According to Jennifer Coughlin, assistant professor of psychiatry and
behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, the scientists believe that in
PET scans, they have “a useful tool to monitor the brains of NFL players and
athletes in other contact sports.”
