A High-Resolution, Large Bore MicroPET System for Translational Imaging Research

描述(由申请人提供)：研究成像中心(RIC)的章程是提供一系列全面的尖端、非侵入性PET和MRI成像仪器，以进行最高质量的临床前和临床研究。通过这项提议，寻求资金来扩大现有的小动物PET实验室，增加一个新的，最先进的西门子Focus 220微PET系统。在过去，许多挥舞着有吸引力的研究建议的研究人员出于实际考虑而被拒绝；要么是因为他们的对象太大，不适合RIC较老的啮齿动物PET，要么是因为这个装置和我们临床PET扫描仪的分辨率缺乏足够的分辨率。Focus 220的先进功能包括卓越的分辨率；几乎是生产中的任何其他人类或大型动物PET相机的两倍，以及更宽的视野。Focus 220口径直径是啮齿动物PET的两倍，现在可以使用更大的对象进行研究，包括成年非人类灵长类动物，如恒河猴和狒狒。作为对这个PET系统的及时补充，RIC的新回旋加速器和放射化学复合体预计将于2007年春季投入使用。这个耗资520万美元的设施是通过一项私人慈善活动和德克萨斯大学系统的特别拨款成功筹集的；这表明了该机构继续致力于将RIC发展为翻译研究中强大的地区性资源。利用动物模型，Focus 220将加速回旋加速器产生的放射性示踪剂的开发和验证。获得高分辨率、大口径微型PET的前景，加上获得用于分子成像的各种经典和新型PET配体的库存，是从RIC当前和未来的合作者那里产生本文所述的34个跨学科研究建议的催化剂。这证明了Focus 220在服务于包括UTHSCSA、西南生物医学研究基金会(SFBR)、奥迪·墨菲退伍军人医院和德克萨斯大学在内的多学科、跨机构的科学界方面将带来的潜在影响。另一项战略资产是RIC与附近的NCRR西南国家灵长类研究中心(SNPRC)的互动合作伙伴关系，在那里维持着一个非人类灵长类动物的兼收并蓄的群体。这为那些希望使用与人类更具亲缘关系的学科的人提供了一个难得的机会。收购Focus 220系统将提供一个强大的新工具，将推动高水平、高影响的可翻译研究，并有助于催生未来的创新NIH提案。基础科学的稳步发展产生了有价值的人类疾病动物模型，就像技术的进步给了我们越来越强大的研究工具来研究它们一样。该PET系统将增强我们非侵入性和非破坏性成像用于生物医学研究的动物器官系统的能力，并加速评估治疗人类疾病的新兴疗法，如癌症、中风和与衰老相关的疾病。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The charter of the Research Imaging Center (RIC) is to provide access to a comprehensive array of cutting- edge, non-invasive PET and MRI imaging instrumentation for prosecuting the highest quality preclinical and clinical research. With this proposal, funds are sought to expand the existing small-animal PET laboratory by adding a new, state-of-the-art Siemens Focus 220 microPET system. In the past, numerous investigators wielding attractive research proposals were turned away for practical considerations; because either their subjects were too large to fit in the RIC's older rodent PET, or the resolution of this unit, and that of our clinical PET scanners, lack sufficient resolving power. The advanced features of the Focus 220 include superior resolution; nearly double that of any other human or large animal PET camera in production, and a wider field of view. With twice the bore diameter of the rodent PET, the Focus 220 aperture will now permit studies using much larger subjects, including adult non-human primates such as rhesus and baboons. In timely complement to this PET system will be the RIC's new cyclotron and radiochemistry complex, expected to be commissioned in spring 2007. This $5.2M facility was successfully funded through a campaign of private philanthropy and a special allocation from the University of Texas System; a demonstration of the continuing commitment to develop the RIC as a formidable regional resource in translational research. Cyclotron-generated radiotracer development and validation would be accelerated with the Focus 220 using animal models. The prospect of acquiring a high-resolution, wide-bore microPET, coupled with access to a diverse inventory of classical and novel PET ligands for molecular imaging, was the catalyst in generating the 34 interdisciplinary research proposals described herein from the RIC's current and future collaborators. This is a testament to the potential impact the Focus 220 would bring in serving a multi-disciplinary, cross-institutional scientific community that includes UTHSCSA, the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (SFBR), the Audie Murphy Veterans Hospital and the University of Texas. Another strategic asset is the RIC's interactive partnership with the nearby NCRR Southwest National Primate Research Center (SNPRC), where an eclectic colony of non-human primates is maintained. This affords an exceptional opportunity for those wishing to use subjects that are more phylogenetically related to humans. Acquisition of the Focus 220 system will provide a powerful new tool that will drive high-caliber, high-impact translatable research and serve to spawn future innovative NIH proposals. Steady advances in basic science have yielded valuable animal models of human disease, just as improvements in technology have given us increasingly more powerful research tools with which to study them. This PET system will enhance our ability to non-invasively and non-destructively image animal organ systems for biomedical research and accelerate the evaluation of emerging therapies for treating human disorders, such as cancer, stroke and aging-related diseases.