In Vivo Radio-Tracer Quantification with Small Animal Imaging

72425S03-I Pre-clinical in vivo studies for pharmaceutical development utilizing new molecular imaging tools have limited accuracy due to quantification errors that arise from the physics in the image acquisition process. Techniques for correcting attenuation errors and improved quantification assessment not only can lead to improved accuracy in drug development and disease studies but also can speed up the development cycle and reduce the number of sacrificed animals. In this project, pharmacological functions will be assessed using radio-tracers in combination with imaging. The amount of tracers will be quantified, with radionuclide imaging corrected for physical errors, using a priori information from co-registered anatomical images. In Phase I, quantification techniques will be developed and implemented for a small animal imaging system where the application of these techniques meets the demand for limited scanning protocols. These quantification techniques will be applied to phantom studies to evaluate feasibility. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by awardee: The imaging technique should provide the biological and pharmacological communities with a powerful in vivo assessment tool for pre-clinical studies. This will lead to higher accuracy, plus faster and more efficient development of new pharmaceuticals and disease treatment methods. The immediate market should include university and Federal research laboratories, along with the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.