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Example: "The feasibility of this approach has recently been demonstrated using PET/CT technology in a small series of patients".

Should this not be: The feasibility of this approach has recently been demonstrated by using PET/CT technology in a small series of patients.

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  • A generic question on the difference between <plain gerund> and by + <gerund> use could be asked on ELL.stackexchange.com -- that may prove useful to other learners there as well.
    – Kris
    Commented May 10, 2013 at 11:27
  • 2
    I've voted to re-open this because the other question got side-tracked on other bits (specifically, commas and the value of HTML over CSS). This one is pure using/by using.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented May 10, 2013 at 20:58
  • “All of them are grammatically correct. The prepositional phrase, by + gerund, emphasizes the technique or means. The present participial phrase modifies the subject, and has more emphasis on the activity.” - AlpheccaStars
    – Константин Ван
    Commented Dec 26, 2017 at 4:03

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No, not necessarily.

That is, inserting by makes the PET/CT technology crucial to the demonstration and the feasibility of the approach.

Not using by means that the technology used is incidental, and the focus is on the approach being shown to be feasible.

Without more context it's impossible to say what the intended import of the sentence is and whether by would actually be better or not. And that means that this question is Not A Real Question.

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  • My question was not clear.
    – Raymond Manzor
    Commented May 14, 2013 at 12:13
  • My question was not clear. I know that the present participle "using" often appears as a synonym of "by means of". I also know that Oxford and Collins give "using" as a synonym of "by means of". What I wanted to know was whether employing a present participle in this way was grammatical. For example, we wouldn't write "We kept the boss informed of the situation sending her daily reports." So why is it that we can write "We discovered the cause of her cancer using modern imaging techniques."?
    – Raymond Manzor
    Commented May 14, 2013 at 12:29

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