"For years researchers have been taking clinical imaging systems and retrofitting them so they could be used to image animals, and this approach has limitations," said SNM member Bradley E. Patt, Ph.D. "Combining anatomical computed tomography (CT) imaging with the functional positron emission tomography (PET) and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging in one instrument gives researchers a revolutionary set of imaging tools in one seamless system," he said. "Researchers can choose the modalities that best fit their research goals," added Patt, the president and chief executive officer of Gamma Medica, Northridge, Calif.
Clinical systems have been very expensive and unable to deal effectively with the physiology of small animals, explained Patt. "In the last few years there has been a tremendous demand for systems that are designed specifically to image small animals, and more applications for small animal imaging systems are being discovered every day," he added.
"Innovation and development in pre-clinical research is now occurring at a furious pace. As new discoveries are translated into the clinic, patients will benefit greatly," said Patt. I. George Zubal, vice chair of SNM's Scientific Program Committee (Instrumentation and Data Analysis Track), agreed, noting, "PET/CT and hybrid PET/SPECT cameras initiated a new way of thinking about imaging systems." The associate professor of diagnostic radiology and technical director of nuclear medicine at Yale University, New Haven, Conn., added, "Tri-modality, which merges these two merged systems, takes us to the next level of camera development."
With the Gamma Medica imaging system, researchers will be able to use PET only, CT only, PET with CT, SPECT with CT or all three, said Patt. "Researchers can acquire the subsystems that best help them achieve their research objectives while keeping the flexibility to add modalities as research needs," he added. Imaging systems like this could speed the development of life-saving drugs by allowing researchers to do work faster and more efficiently, he noted.
Authors of "Flex: Tri-Modality Small Animal Tomography Combining PET, SPECT and CT in a Single Modular Gantry" include Bradley E. Patt, Kevin Parnham, Joshua Li, Koji Iwata, Thor Vandehei, Hu Zhou, JoAnn Zhang, Gina Caravaglia, Marek Szawlaw and Jan Iwanczyk, department of R&D, Gamma Medica Inc., Northridge, Calif.; Wai-Hoi Wong, Experimental Diagnostic Imaging, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas; Jonathan B. Moody, Richard J. Lister and Patrick McConville, all MIR Preclinical Services, Ann Arbor, Mich.; and Kyle Kuszpit, University of Michigan.
Scientific Paper Abstract 598
About the Society of Nuclear Medicine The Society of Nuclear Medicine is holding its 52nd Annual Meeting June 18–22 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto, Canada. Research topics for the 2005 meeting include techniques for the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease; advanced imaging for the diagnosis, staging and treatment of cancer; nuclear cardiology; and the collaboration between nuclear medicine and bioengineering in the fight against cancer. SNM is an international scientific and professional organization of more than 16,000 members dedicated to promoting the science, technology and practical applications of molecular imaging/nuclear medicine. SNM is based in Reston, Va.; additional information can be found online at http://www.snm.org.