Ethical clinical practice of functional brain imaging. Society of Nuclear Medicine Brain Imaging Council.

The development and evolution of functional brain imaging technology and their broad application to a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders have led to their scientifically sound use in specific clinical situations. In addition, there is a growing diversity of empirical new applications where there is little previous research or clinical experience. Therefore, a committee of the Brain Imaging Council of the Society of Nuclear Medicine was formed to address the need for specific guidelines regarding scan interpretation and reporting. This committee considered the wide range of current and potential uses of PET and SPECT, including its growing role in forensics. A set of basic guidelines for the reporting and interpretation of brain imaging studies applicable to all clinical situations, including forensics, was formulated. These guidelines were composed in a manner sensitive to the need for standards that are scientifically defensible now, and which will continue to be valid as the field evolves. It is the intent of the committee and its summary document to positively influence the clinical use of brain SPECT and PET by offering guidance concerning the elements essential to a complete and useful clinical report, defining standards to differentiate well-established clinical applications from research uses and providing a framework in which to consider the appropriateness of functional brain imaging used in the forensic arena.