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PET imaging core
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    Positron Emission Tomography imaging core

    Core Director: Prof. Osman Ratib



    Rationale

    The overall focus of the CIBM is to expand the horizon of metabolic and functional imaging in the context of specific biomedical problems. The specific thrust of the Center is on the following three areas: Early detection of pathogenic processes prior to (permanent) anatomic damage, therapy monitoring and pathogenesis and mechanisms of disease and health. Specific biomedical research areas that have been defined as (non-exclusive) priorities are focusing on neuroscience, metabolic diseases (diabetes) and oncology.




    PET as instrument of molecular imaging

    Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging provides new avenues in molecular imaging through radiolabelling of variety of tracers with positron emitting isotopes. Such tracers allow in-vivo assessment of biological and physiological pathways. PET is becoming the technique of choice for static and dynamic imaging of biological biomarkers in patients and in animals. Combination of PET technology with other imaging techniques such as CT and MRI leads to better characterization of morphological as well as functional changes of given disease processes.


    Scientific vision of the PET program

    In this context, we envisage the following strategic vision for the development of the PET Core of the CIBM along the following specific research lines:


    1. Explore new technical avenues for special detectors that can detect gamma rays emitted by positron annihilation and MR signals at very high magnetic fields (14 Tesla) to take advantage of the availability of such an MR system at EPFL site of CIBM and to enable new research avenues, such as the complete characterization of brain energy metabolism, as well as flow measured using radiolabeled tracers.
    2. Molecular imaging at the cell-specific level stands to gain from the combination of tracers used both in MR and PET (such as, but not limited to, the lanthanides). This is currently a completely unexplored research area, which stands to gain from the unique abilities of PET to quantitatively image e.g. receptor occupancy and of MR to ultimately provide "intelligent" contrast agents.
    3. Most contemporary animal imaging with PET focuses on optimizing spatial resolution. Little attention is currently given to the enormous potential of time-resolved activity curves as they contain important information on metabolic and physiologic processes. In the post-genomic, post-proteomic and post-metabolonomic era these capabilities are of crucial importance in characterizing ultimately human disease.
    4. Some of these capabilities in the dynamic imaging process are realizable using the β-probe (which directly detects a positron at a specific location rather than the annihilation photons by coincidence detection), which has the additional drawback of being an invasive procedure, not necessarily compatible with the expenses incurred in generating genetic models of disease. Likewise, sequential sectioning using autoradiographs suffers from the same drawback. Nonetheless, we propose to include autoradiographic expertise and β-probe in the PET Core because of the similar infrastructural requirements and modeling expertise needed.
    5. The program will be aided by a substantial, but independent effort in radiochemistry in Geneva (providing a cyclotron with new research capabilities), which is required for the testing of novel tracers (including short-lived isotopes), e.g., to image their biodistribution and validate their usability and kinetics. Developments of some of the radiotracers will be a strongly concerted effort with the PET imaging camera at EPFL.

    Equipment plan

    To accomplish the ambitious goals set forth, the PET core will operate initially two cameras, one designed to provide "conventional" imaging capabilities for the immediate evaluation of novel radiotracers, another one focusing on the synergies provided with combined studies on MR, including innovative mechanism for image registration from the two imaging modalities. The second camera will as well as be used to advance detector development by allowing combined acquisition of both imaging modalities. This camera development would lend itself ideally to develop a new market in conjunction with strong industry collaboration.



    PET core team

    The PET core director is Professor Osman Ratib, chairman of the department of Medical Imaging and Information Sciences in Geneva and head of the division of nuclear medicine. The technical developments of MR compatible unit at the EPFL will be under the direct supervision of Professor Rolf Gruetter, Director of the CIBM. With the purchase of the new imaging scanners in mid 2007, a multidisciplinary team will be established on both sites to provide the technical and logistical support as well as the scientific supervision of collaborative research projects. The radiochemistry and production of new radiolabeled tracers will be provided under the supervision of Dr. Yann Seimbille head of the cyclotron unit at the university hospital of Geneva. The technical assistance for PET instrumentation and development project will be provided by Dr. Habib Zaidi, from the division of nuclear medicine of the university hospital of Geneva.

    Site map| June 2005
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