Multimodal Imaging Core
The Multimodal Imaging Core provides services to investigators locally, regionally, and nationally, encompassing scales that range from molecular to whole-animal imaging. The mission of the Core is to support investigators' and trainees' research in qualitative and quantitative imaging applications. assist with study design, data interpretation, extramural grant submissions, and conduct preclinical and IND-enabling studies with nonhuman primates.
The Core provides in vivo imaging services, including ultrasound imaging, optical imaging, computed tomography (CT), and positron emission tomography (PET) with a dedicated high-resolution brain scanner (πPET), total-body PET/CT µBioExplorer, and a GE PET/CT scanner. In addition, radiochemistry services are provided through a partnership with the UC Davis Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging. Core faculty work in an integrated manner to implement the imaging goals of the program, and to ensure investigators have the depth and breadth of imaging opportunities to conduct their research and to submit NIH grants and IND applications. The Core provides a range of services (e.g., protocol development and optimization, operating all imaging systems, image processing, quantitative analysis), including daily operational management, data backup/sharing, preventative and routine maintenance, and quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC). The Multimodal Imaging Core faculty and staff work in an efficient manner to meet the imaging needs of investigators nationwide.
Capabilities and Resources
The Core provides services, expertise, and training, including advanced imaging applications that address innovative research questions across the lifespan. The in vivo imaging program provides a unique depth and breadth of services offered for high-resolution brain and total-body imaging that meets a broad spectrum of investigator needs. The Core has a long-standing history of providing research support to investigators, including assistance with extramural grant applications. Innovative techniques and procedures have provided a means for investigators to incorporate non-invasive ultrasound-related techniques and procedures in their research programs, and to use non-surgical ultrasound-guided methods to develop and study new monkey models of human disease. Ultrasound imaging includes a spectrum of applications during pregnancy. Normative prenatal growth parameters are well established, including mean data tables, predicted values, and 95% confidence intervals for multiple head, abdominal, and limb measures, in addition to early gestational biometrics. Ultrasound is also used extensively as an adjunct for guiding the delivery of agents into various fetal compartments and for collecting fetal specimens. Highly innovative methods for bioluminescence imaging have been developed and applied for a spectrum of gene therapy, somatic cell genome editing, and stem cell transplantation/regenerative medicine studies.
Core and Affiliate Scientists, along with a national collaborative team, developed EXPLORER, the world’s first total-body scanner for humans that allows all the tissues and organs of the body to be imaged simultaneously. This new technology enables total-body studies at 1/40th the current radiation dose used with conventional PET scanners, allowing imaging to be performed at fractions of the annual radiation dose humans receive from natural background sources. These capabilities have revolutionized the scope of PET applications to, for example, longitudinal studies for patients with chronic diseases and wider applications of PET in special populations such as infants and children. The first demonstration of use of this new total-body PET technology was performed with the mini-EXPLORER prototype designed for total-body imaging in nonhuman primates, which was replaced through S10 funding with the United Imaging µBioExplorer. The state-of-the-art total-body PET scanner, the µBioExplorer, and a GE Discovery PET/CT are used for an array of studies, including protocols that focus on somatic cell genome-edited cells, radiolabeled antibodies for assessing cell and viral trafficking; fetal development using a combined ultrasound and CT imaging protocol; biodistribution of iodinated proteins; and inflation CT scans. Studies also address tissue-engineered constructs with scaffolds and stem/progenitor cells to tailor the construct. Emerging applications for PET, particularly for stem and progenitor cell trafficking and engraftment, require the ability to image very low-activity source distributions.
The Core has developed methods for radiolabeling of cells for regenerative medicine purposes and adapted these techniques to radiolabel viruses and monitor trafficking and viral sanctuaries. New radiotracers are available in the Core (through a partnership with the UC Davis Center for Molecular and Genomic Imaging), including those that bind to the translocator protein (TSPO) to monitor inflammation, including a third-generation radiotracer 18F-DPA714. Other PET radioligands have been synthesized for targeting the tau protein (18F-T807) and synapse loss (18F-UCB-H and 18F-SDM8). New radiotracers are introduced to Core users in parallel with new imaging protocols, methods, and algorithms. Rigor and research excellence are primary goals in parallel with transformative solutions that provide innovative technologies, tools, and biomarkers.
The Core has developed a complement of techniques, including those used to explore the pharmacokinetics of novel radiopharmaceuticals with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A laboratory is dedicated to this purpose, and staff provide the expertise for these services. Quantitative Image Analysis (QIA) refers to the standardized extraction of meaningful, quantitative information from imaging data and uses computational algorithms. QIA methods ensure imaging biomarkers are reproducible and less subjective and can provide imaging biomarkers for future application in human clinical trials.
For more information please email the Multimodal Imaging Core.