State-of-the-Art Equipment for Preclinical Molecular Imaging and Targeted Radiotherapy

许多慢性疾病，如癌症和早期心脏病，通常是没有症状的。因此，这些疾病通常在晚期才被诊断出来，这减少了患者可供选择的治疗方法。我们正在创造一种新的方法来观察人体内部，以识别这些毁灭性疾病的错误过程，使用一种被称为“分子成像”的过程。这些创新的扫描需要向血液中注入放射性药物。药物是疾病的所在地，或者识别与疾病相关的特定特征，这将帮助医疗专业人员为特定的患者提供正确的治疗。需要放射性，这样先进的医学扫描仪才能识别疾病在体内的位置。这些扫描仪不是拍摄外部的照片，而是可以看到身体的深处，并定位仅有毫米大小的疾病区域。使用的放射性物质的类型和数量是无害的，但它提供了‘灯塔’，因此这些疾病可以通过扫描仪进行可视化。在过去的15年多里，我们在伦敦国王学院率先发现了新的分子成像应用。我们已经建立了一个临界量和广泛的研究基础设施，在分子成像研究方面取得开创性的发现，最终目标是改善人类健康。这一令人兴奋的研究领域现在正处于新发现的风口浪尖，不仅可以观察疾病，还可以治疗疾病。通过改变药物上的放射性性质，我们可以将有针对性的治疗有效载荷输送到疾病部位，从而消除它。这种被称为“放射性核素疗法”的疗法已经证明，前列腺癌患者的化疗效果优于常规化疗，且副作用较少。在伦敦国王学院，我们拥有为这一新兴研究领域做出重大贡献的设施、技术诀窍和雄心。为了充分利用我们在分子成像和放射性核素研究方面的临界质量，我们需要新的扫描仪来检测成像和治疗性放射性。在这里，我们申请资金购买微型临床扫描仪，用于使用人类疾病的动物模型进行研究。它们取代了我们已有12年历史的设备，拥有先进的功能，使研究人员能够在将这些成像工具用于人类之前开发和优化它们。具体地说，我们将能够实时跟踪这些基于放射性的治疗在全身的运动。扫描分辨率的提高还将使我们能够识别体内的微结构，或仅跟踪注射用于抗癌的数千个治疗性细胞。与英国各地的研究人员合作，将使用这些扫描仪来提高我们对一系列不同疾病的了解，包括癌症、神经退行性疾病、心脏病、怀孕、炎症性疾病和关节炎。最后，通过与制药和生物技术公司合作，我们的目标是将这些发现商业化，为英国和世界各地的广泛患者带来最大利益。

Numerous chronic diseases, such as cancer and early heart disease, are often symptomless. Consequently, these diseases are often diagnosed at a late stage which reduces the treatment options that are available to the patient. We are creating new ways of seeing inside the body to identify the processes that go wrong with these devastating diseases using a process called 'molecular imaging'. These innovative scans require the administration of radioactive drugs into the blood stream. The drugs home to the site of the disease, or identify a particular feature related to the disease that will help medical professionals provide the correct treatments for the specific patient. The radioactivity is needed so advanced medical scanners can identify the disease location in the body. Instead of taking a picture of the outside, these scanners can see deep within the body and locate regions of disease that are just millimetres in size. The type and amount of radioactivity used are not harmful but provide the 'beacon' so these diseases can visualised by the scanner.At King's College London we have pioneered the discovery of new molecular imaging applications for the past fifteen+ years. We have built a critical mass and extensive research infrastructure to make pioneering discoveries in molecular imaging research with the ultimate goal of improving human health. This exciting area of research is now on the cusp of new discoveries to not only see but treat disease. By changing the nature of the radioactivity attached to the drug we can deliver a targeted therapeutic payload to the site of disease, resulting in its elimination. Known as 'radionuclides therapies', they have already shown improvements over normal chemotherapy in prostate cancer patients with a lower number of side effects. At King's College London we have the facilities, know-how and ambition to make a significant contribution to this emerging field of research.To fully exploit our critical mass in molecular imaging and radionuclide research we require new scanners to detect both imaging and therapeutic radioactivity. Here, we have requested funds to purchase miniaturised clinical scanners for research using animal models of human diseases. Replacing our >12-year-old equipment they possess advanced features that enable researchers to develop and optimise these imaging tools before their use in humans. Specifically, we will be able to track the movement of these radioactivity-based treatments throughout the body in real time. The improved resolution of the scans will also allow us to identify microstructures in the body or track just a few thousand therapeutic cells that are injected to fight cancer. Working with researchers across the UK will use these scanners to improve our understanding of a host of different diseases including cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, heart disease, pregnancy, inflammatory disorders, and arthritis. Finally, by partnering with pharmaceutical and biotech companies we aim to commercialise these discoveries to deliver maximum benefit to a wide range of patients both in the UK and world-wide.