The Best Of Both Worlds

PET and MRI are widely used techniques in imaging studies as well as in clinical practice. The value of PET lies in its high sensitivity to track labelled molecules in vivo, but its anatomical resolution is limited. MRI, by contrast, has a lower sensitivity but very high resolution.

Bernd Pichler and his colleagues now describe a three-dimensional PET scanner that is built into a high-power MRI machine. Both imaging modalities preserve their functionality in this dual system, even when operated simultaneously. With this combined imaging system, they acquired high-quality functional and morphological PET-MRI data from different organs of living mice.

This dual PET-MRI system is a powerful tool for preclinical research and has great potential for clinical applications.

Author contact:

Bernd Pichler (Eberhard-Karls-University, Tuebingen, Germany)
E-mail: bernd.pichler@med.uni-tuebingen.de

Abstract available online

(C) Nature Medicine press release.

Message posted by: Trevor M. D'Souza