Small Animal Handling Devices for Multiplatform Imaging

描述（由申请人提供）：由于通过动物成像提高对人类疾病的理解和治疗的巨大潜力，小动物成像计划正在迅速发展。目前，每一种可用于人类的放射学方法都已被用于小动物。其他模式已经被设计为研究动物体内成像的目的。随着研究人员越来越多地使用小动物成像，需要改进和标准化的动物处理技术是至关重要的。我们的研究目标是创建和分发健壮、安全、易于使用的动物处理系统，并能够在包括MRI、CAT、PET和SPECT在内的多种成像平台上提供高质量的放射图像。具体目标是：(1)测试和改进用于大鼠和小鼠头部成像的立体定向啮齿动物支架，(2)测试和增强动物监测和模块化动物处理系统的生理支持，以及(3)评估在多模态成像应用中使用啮齿动物支架的能力。这项拟议的研究是一家专门生产动物处理设备的小型企业（ASI Instruments, Inc.）和一个大学研究团队（乔治城大学神经科学系神经生物磁共振成像实验室）合作的结果。这种行业/学术合作伙伴关系将融合立体定向仪器技术（通常用于外科手术中所需的精确解剖对准）和放射成像技术，以便将小动物精确对准医学成像设备的正交成像平面。从第一阶段研究中获得的知识将用于第二阶段开发用于其他动物的动物支架，并用于这些动物的大脑成像以外的目的（例如骨骼肌、脊髓、心脏、肺等）。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Small animal imaging initiatives are growing rapidly due to the enormous potential for improved understanding and treatment of human disease through animal imaging. At present, every radiologic modality available for use in humans has been adapted for small animal use. Other modalities have been devised solely for the purpose of in vivo imaging of research animals. As investigators increasingly make use of small animal imaging, the need for improved and standardized animal handling technology is critical. Our research goal is to create and distribute animal handling systems that are robust, safe, easy to use, and able to provide high-quality radiological images across multiple imaging platforms including MRI, CAT, PET and SPECT. The Specific Aims are to (1) Test and improve a stereotaxic rodent holder for rat and mouse head imaging, (2) Test and enhance animal monitoring and physiological support for the modular animal handling system, and (3) Evaluate the ability to use the rodent holder in multi-modality imaging applications. This proposed research is the result of a partnership between a small business specializing in the manufacture of animal handling devices (ASI Instruments, Inc.) and a university based research team (Neurobiological Magnetic Resonance Imaging Laboratory, Department of Neuroscience, Georgetown University). This industry/academic partnership will merge of the technology of stereotaxic instrumentation, typically used for the precise anatomical alignment needed in surgical procedures, and the technology of radiological imaging, in order to precisely align small animals to the orthogonal imaging planes of medical imaging equipment. Knowledge gained from this Phase I study will be used in Phase II for developing animal holders for other animals and for purposes other than imaging the brain of these animals (e.g. skeletal muscle, spinal cord, heart, lung, etc.).