What is Positron emission tomography (PET)?

Positron emission tomography, or PET, is like giving a special camera a superpower to see inside your body.

Imagine you're playing hide and seek in a dark room, and the only way you can tell where someone is hiding is if they turn on a tiny flashlight. That’s kind of how PET works. Doctors use it to look at what's going on inside your body, especially in your brain or heart.

In PET, doctors give you a special kind of medicine that acts like a glowing flashlight. This medicine is made up of tiny particles called positrons. When these positrons meet other particles in your body, they create light, just like when two flashlights shine together.

A camera around your body catches this light and turns it into pictures. These pictures help doctors see which parts of your body are working hard or not so hard, kind of like seeing who’s shining the brightest in the game of hide and seek!