Diagnostic Molecular Imaging Technology
Integrating multimodal imaging technology
(MRI, PET, OI, SPECT)
Imaging technologies for in vivo molecular imaging in small animals have undergone rapid development in recent years, starting from a situation in which no dedicated equipment was available to a very intense competition about resolution, sensitivity and quantification, both within one given technique and between different techniques. Most technologies used in the clinical field have now been adapted to image small animals (μCT, μPET, μSPECT, μMRI). Each one of these imaging techniques carries certain advantages and certain disadvantages.
A further goal in molecular imaging research is to combine the advantages of each imaging technology (e.g. high resolution for MRI, high sensitivity for PET, low costs and high sensitivity for optical imaging) into a multimodal imaging solution to get the best possible answer to a certain scientific question.
The major long-term goals of the jointly executed research activities of the imaging technologies programme within DiMI are:
- to develop or adapt key imaging equipment to the mouse brain and heart,
- to associate such equipment into multimodal imaging protocols,
- to improve the performance of existing equipment in terms of quantitation.
The programme puts special emphasis on single photon emission computed tomography at extremely high resolution that cannot be reached by other quantitative techniques, on optical imaging and on the coupling of MRI with PET.
