UNLABELLED Localization of regions with increased uptake of radiotracer in small-animal SPECT is greatly facilitated when using coregistration with anatomic images of the same animal. As MRI has several advantages compared with CT (soft-tissue contrast and lack of ionizing radiation) we developed a SPECT/low-field MRI hybrid device for small-animal imaging. METHODS A small-animal single-pinho...

Non-invasive real time in vivo molecular imaging in small animal models has become the essential bridge between in vitro data and their translation into clinical applications. The tremendous development and technological progress, such as tumour modelling, monitoring of tumour growth and detection of metastasis, has facilitated translational drug development. This has added to our knowledge on ...

The use of small animal models in basic and preclinical sciences constitutes an integral part of testing new pharmaceutical agents prior to commercial translation to clinical practice. Whole-body small animal imaging is a particularly elegant and cost-effective experimental platform for the timely validation and commercialization of novel agents from the bench to the bedside. Biomedical imaging...

High-sensitivity nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) of gaseous atoms realized by using a hyperpolarization technique is an attractive research tool used in a wide range of areas, such as physics, chemistry, material science and biomedical imaging. One of the most promising applications of this technology is the use as a noninvasive diagnostic tool for pulmonary diseases, where hyperpolarized (HP)...

Micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) facilitates the visualization and quantification of contrast-enhanced microvessels within intact tissue specimens, but conventional preclinical vascular contrast agents may be inadequate near dense tissue (such as bone). Typical lead-based contrast agents do not exhibit optimal X-ray absorption properties when used with X-ray tube potentials below 90 kilo-el...

Physiological studies in small animals can be complicated, but the complexity is increased dramatically when performing live-animal synchrotron X-ray imaging studies. Our group has extensive experience in high-resolution liveanimal imaging at the Japanese SPring-8 synchrotron, primarily examining airways in two-dimensions. These experiments normally image an area of 1.8mm x 1.2mm at a pixel res...