Hybrid PET/MRI Biomedical Imaging of Bacteria

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If we could image bacteria inside patients and identify the species, we would have a powerful weapon against drug resistant bacteria (DRB). As antibiotics originated from yeast, which need to protect themselves from all bacteria, antibiotics are not bacteria species selective. Hence overuse has resulted in damaging beneficial bacteria in our gut as well as the rise of DRB. The World Health Organization and the Government of Canada predict that by 2050 if new treatments are not developed more people will die from bacterial infections than from cancer. Today medical imaging can only see the damage to our bodies caused by infection. If instead bacteria themselves could be imaged and their species identified, treatment could start with more selective antibiotics before tissue is damaged. We have discovered that a) bacteria have an MRI characteristic that is 15 times greater than human or animal tissue and b) that specific species of bacteria and specific viruses that kill bacteria can be selectively labeled with a positron emission tomography probe. Here we propose to combine these discoveries into a hybrid PET/MRI method to image bacteria. We have filed a patent to protect these discoveries and have the support of four Canadian companies.First we will develop a new method to produce the needed PET probe. Second, we will develop a PET/MRI method to image bacteria in the gut. This imaging technology is needed to understand the role of gut bacteria in human health and is needed to assist in the development of treatment for DRB infection such as fecal transplantation or ingestion of probiotics. Third, we will develop a method to detect specific bacteria in the body that are not in the gut including bacteria that have passed from the gut into the rest of the body.