State-of-the-Art Preclinical PET/CT Imaging System

Project Summary/Abstract State-of-the-Art Preclinical PET/CT Imaging System Yale University PET Center The goal of this proposal is to replace an end-of-life Positron Emission Tomography (PET) preclinical imaging system with a state-of-the-art PET/CT system that will enhance preclinical imaging research at the Yale PET Center. PET imaging provides a unique non-invasive method

to detect and quantify biochemical processes and physiological functions in the living body. PET imaging has broad applications in areas of oncology, cardiology, psychiatry, neurology, metabolic disorders, inflammation, and others. The Yale PET Center is a 100% research dedicated core facility that features radiopharmaceutical development for diverse biological

targets and high-resolution imaging with state-of-the-art quantification. Preclinical PET imaging research is essential to support novel radiopharmaceutical probe development and mechanistic studies not possible in humans. These studies, conducted in diverse species including mouse, rat, bird, rabbit, dog, and nonhuman primates, benefit and advance the entire PET research

enterprise. However, the current preclinical PET-only system has reached end-of-life and lacks CT capabilities, motivating the need for a new state-of-the-art preclinical PET/CT imaging system. We have identified a proposed PET/CT system large enough to accommodate nonhuman primate imaging that exhibits high sensitivity, high resolution, and excellent

quantitative accuracy. When these PET instrumentation characteristics are combined with a CT scanner with rapid acquisition speed, the system will provide ideal characteristics for the preclinical PET/CT research studies of Yale investigators. The preclinical PET/CT system will improve spatial localization of new radiopharmaceutical probes, allow image-based

measurement of tracer input function, and provide proper measurement of whole-body imaging data including correction for cardiac and respiratory motion. The proposed instrument will support 19 NIH-funded investigators in the Departments of Cardiology, Internal Medicine, Neurology, Neuroscience, Psychiatry, and Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, all of whom are

currently conducting NIH-funded PET imaging research. The additional capabilities and capacity provided by the new system will also support the development of PET imaging research by new investigators. Enhanced use of novel radiopharmaceuticals and PET/CT imaging will promote research studying new mechanisms for diagnosis and therapy of human disease. Together,

these applications hold tremendous potential to advance public health.