| Preclinical
PET |
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Preclinical positron emission tomography (preclinical PET) is increasingly being used to study tumor biology in preclinical drug discovery. As applications of preclinical PET cancer models have increased, preclinical PET equipment design and sensitivity have also improved, allowing higher resolution and throughput.
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Preclinical PET studies utilize the same radio-tracers as used in clinical PET, providing the same versatility in imaging molecular and cellular function in vivo. PET tracers have been used to measure cellular glucose metabolism ([18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose, FDG), cellular proliferation ([18F]-fluoro-thymidine, FLT) and protein synthesis ([11C]-methionine, MET; [18F]-tyrosine), ([18F]-MMP-2 inhibitor) as well as transgene expression. Tumor detection and therapy monitoring using preclinical PET takes advantage of changes in tumor cells which promote enhanced uptake of these tracers.
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MIR has two state-of-the-art preclinical positron emission tomography systems. Thus, MIR is capable of processing large studies with high throughput. MIR owns and operates both of these preclinical PET scanners on site.
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Gamma Medica's FLEX™ platform
with X-Pet™ and X-O™ modalities.
X-Pet™ is a high sensitivity, high resolution
preclinical positron emission tomography imaging
system. X-O™ is a a preclinical micro CT
system capable of rapid whole body image acquisitions
at very-high-resolution. The FLEX imaging systems
share a common gantry, allowing highly accurate
co-registration and fusion of the image data.
This preclinical PET technology is directly translatable
to human clinical practice and allows researchers
to accurately measure tumor burden, biodistribution
and mechanisms of drug function.
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Siemens R4 Preclinical PET scanner .
The microPET R4 scanner, for the scanning of rats and mice, has an 8 cm axial field of view and < 2.0 mm spatial resolution. This
This preclinical PET technology is directly translatable
to human clinical practice and allows researchers
to accurately measure tumor burden, biodistribution
and mechanisms of drug function.
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CT image of tumor in thigh
of rat
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CT image with PET overlay
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Volume rendering of CT and
PET data
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This specialized equipment is capable of rendering highly sensitive, quantitative preclinical PET images that are automatically co-registered with preclinical CT images to give an anotomical reference to the PET image.
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This specialized equipment is capable of rendering highly sensitive, quantitative preclinical PET images that are automatically co-registered with preclinical CT images to give an anotomical reference to the PET image.
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Below is a Preclinical FDG PET study using subcutaneously implanted Colo-205 human colon tumor xenografts. This study compares the PET signal between saline treated control animals with those that have been treated with an effective dose and schedule of paclitaxel. In this study, the PET signal corresponded with a decrease in tumor mass in the subcutaneous xenograft, indicating an effective therapy.
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Preclinical PET imaging can be used to image the metabolic
activity of tumors in locations refractory to visual assessment
such as the brain. The images shown to the left and right are of 9L gliomas
in the rat using [18F ]-fluorodeoxyglucose. MIR has extensive
expertise in models of glioma.
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Transaxial view |
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Coronal view |
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