| The objective is to develop and evaluate an ultra-high resolution Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography system (micro-SPECT). Micro-SPECT will enable three-dimensional cross-sectional imaging of distributions of radio-molecules in intact small laboratory animals at a spatial resolution in the sub-millimetre range, with a target of 0.25 mm. Current approaches for in vivo tomographic radionuclide imaging are limited to a resolution larger than one mm and have a low counting sensitivity. In concert with novel labelling techniques and animal models, micro-SPECT is expected to play an important role in genomics and proteomics research. Furthermore, it will be applied in neurosciences, and for development of imaging tracers and pharmaceuticals, since micro-SPECT will be able to quantitatively monitor the uptake and retention of low amounts of molecules in small structures. Micro-SPECT is expected to play an important role in forcing breakthroughs in (i) neurosciences, since it enables monitoring dynamics of neural processes in localized brain regions, and (ii) in understanding gene functions, for example by measuring the distribution and timing of gene expression in vivo. |
