Chronic back pain may be the single most expensive condition in American healthcare.  And finding the source of the pain is quite difficult; misplaced implants and bone grafts can make it worse.  As a solution, radiologists at Stanford have shown how molecular imaging-i.e. PET/CT and a sodium fluoride radiotracer that targets bone inflammation-can identify “hot spots” which suggest injury, infection, or erroneous implants.  In a clinical study, researchers reported an 85% accuracy in identifying the exact source of the patient’s pain.  MORE