Standardised uptake value (SUV)

The standardised uptake value (SUV) is the number radiologists use to say how brightly a spot lights up on a PET scan. It is tissue radioactivity normalised to the injected dose and body weight, and SUVmax is the most widely used version. Values are affected by the scanner, the uptake time and blood glucose, and the PERCIST response criteria use SUL, a lean-body variant, instead. The term belongs to the PET (positron emission tomography) and FDG PET technology entries and to the Fludeoxyglucose F-18 (FDG) drug record, and it is referenced by the Cancer metabolism pathway, the Warburg effect, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, and ideas on de-acidifying tumours so T cells can work and on a phase 0 fund using microdoses and imaging.