Development of quantitative MRI and PET techniques for biological applications

磁共振成像是研究组织基本特性的最通用的成像技术之一。它本质上是非侵入性的，特别适合于研究人类和动物生物学。虽然它可以生成空间分辨率很高的图像，但它的灵敏度有点有限。正电子发射断层扫描是一种成像技术，它使用专门设计的放射性示踪剂在分子水平上研究特定的生物过程。与核磁共振不同，PET成像非常敏感，但它的空间分辨率有限。由于MRI和PET通常提供互补的信息，对同一动物进行MRI/PET联合研究将提供比单独使用两种技术显著提高的研究能力。拟议研究计划的长期目标是开发定量MRI和PET技术以及用于生物应用的MRI/PET组合技术的实验装置。

Magnetic Resonance Imaging is one of the most versatile imaging techniques for studying fundamental properties of tissue. Its intrinsically non-invasive character makes it particularly suitable to study human and animal biology. Although it can generate images with very high spatial resolution, its sensitivity is somewhat limited. Positron Emission Tomography is an imaging technique that uses specially designed radiotracers to study specific biological processes at a molecular level. Unlike MRI, PET imaging is very sensitive; however it suffers from limited spatial resolution. Since MRI and PET provide often complementary information, carrying out combined MRI/PET studies on the same animal will provide research capability that is significantly improved over the means of each technique alone. Long term objective of the proposed research programme is to develop quantitative MRI and PET techniques and experimental setup for the combined MRI/PET technology for biological applications.