Search

The article presents a study on wearable whole-brain imaging device to asses rodent's behavior and brain functions. It says that the imaging technique provides a noninvasive window to envision a rodent's brain health and response to therapeutic interventions. It mentions several imaging technologies such as positron emission tomography (PET) and functional magnetic resonance imaging. It also features the study conducted by Daniela Schulz and colleagues on the use of wearable PET scanner in rat.

Highlights: [•] Subsystem coupling in a combined PET/MR small animal MRI is investigated. [•] A grounding scheme is developed to increase isolation between the sub systems. [•] Carbon fiber material provides good RF shielding without supporting eddy currents. [•] Isolation also depends on the location of the PET electronics inside the gradients. [•] Chemical shift imaging is used to image eddy current effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Position-sensitive avalanche photodiodes (PSAPDs) are gaining widespread acceptance in modern PET scanner designs, and owing to their relative insensitivity to magnetic fields, especially in those that are MRI-compatible. Flood histograms in PET scanners are used to determine the crystal of annihilation photon interaction and hence, for detector characterization and routine quality control. For PET detectors that use PSAPDs, flood histograms show a characteristic pincushion distortion when Anger logic is used for event positioning. A small rotation in the flood histogram is also observed when the detectors are placed in a magnetic field. We first present a general purpose automatic method for spatial distortion correction for flood histograms of PSAPD-based PET detectors when placed both inside and outside a MRI scanner. Analytical formulas derived for this scheme are based on a hybrid approach that combines desirable properties from two existing event positioning schemes. The rotation of the flood histogram due to the magnetic field is determined iteratively and is accounted for in the scheme. We then provide implementation details of a method for crystal identification we have previously proposed and evaluate it for cases when the PET detectors are both outside and in a magnetic field. In this scheme, Fourier analysis is used to generate a lower-order spatial approximation of the distortion-corrected PSAPD flood histogram, which we call the "template". The template is then registered to the flood histogram using a diffeomorphic iterative intensity-based warping scheme. The calculated deformation field is then applied to the segmentation of the template to obtain a segmentation of the flood histogram. A manual correction tool is also developed for exceptional cases. We present a quantitative assessment of the proposed distortion correction scheme and crystal identification method against conventional methods. Our results indicate that our proposed methods lead to a large reduction in manual labor and indeed can routinely be used for calibration and characterization studies in MRI-compatible PET scanners based on PSAPDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noninvasive imaging at the molecular level is an emerging field in biomedical research. This paper introduces a new technology synergizing two leading imaging methodologies: positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Although the value of PET lies in its high-sensitivity tracking of biomarkers in vivo, it lacks resolving morphology. MRI has lower sensitivity, but produces high soft-tissue contrast and provides spectroscopic information and functional MRI (fMRI). We have developed a three-dimensional animal PET scanner that is built into a 7-T MRI. Our evaluations show that both modalities preserve their functionality, even when operated isochronously. With this combined imaging system, we simultaneously acquired functional and morphological PET-MRI data from living mice. PET-MRI provides a powerful tool for studying biology and pathology in preclinical research and has great potential for clinical applications. Combining fMRI and spectroscopy with PET paves the way for a new perspective in molecular imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are widely used in vivo imaging technologies with both clinical and biomedical research applications. The strengths of MRI include high-resolution, high-contrast morphologic imaging of soft tissues; the ability to image physiologic parameters such as diffusion and changes in oxygenation level resulting from neuronal stimulation; and the measurement of metabolites using chemical shift imaging. PET images the distribution of biologically targeted radiotracers with high sensitivity, but images generally lack anatomic context and are of lower spatial resolution. Integration of these technologies permits the acquisition of temporally correlated data showing the distribution of PET radiotracers and MRI contrast agents or MR-detectable metabolites, with registration to the underlying anatomy. An MRI-compatible PET scanner has been built for biomedical research applications that allows data from both modalities to be acquired simultaneously. Experiments demonstrate no effect of the MRI system on the spatial resolution of the PET system and <10% reduction in the fraction of radioactive decay events detected by the PET scanner inside the MRI. The signal-to-noise ratio and uniformity of the MR images, with the exception of one particular pulse sequence, were little affected by the presence of the PET scanner. In viva simultaneous PET and MRI studies were performed in mice. Proof-of-principle in vivo MR spectroscopy and functional MRI experiments were also demonstrated with the combined scanner. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]