By What is molecular imaging used for?
Molecular imaging procedures—which are noninvasive, safe and painless—are used to diagnose and manage the treatment of cancer, heart disease, brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, gastrointestinal disorders, lung disorders, bone disorders, kidney and thyroid disorders, and more.
What is a molecular imaging test?
Molecular imaging or radionuclide imaging procedures are noninvasive and usually painless medical tests that help physicians diagnose medical conditions. These imaging scans use radioactive materials called radiopharmaceuticals or radiotracers.
What are the types of molecular imaging?
There are five imaging modalities available for molecular imaging, including X-ray computed tomography imaging (CT), optical imaging (OI), radionuclide imaging (involving PET and SPECT), ultrasound (US) imaging and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) [9].
How is molecular imaging done?
The most common example of molecular imaging used clinically today is to inject a contrast agent (e.g., a microbubble, metal ion, or radioactive isotope) into a patient’s bloodstream and to use an imaging modality (e.g., ultrasound, MRI, CT, PET) to track its movement in the body.
Why is Molecular Imaging important?
Molecular imaging is a very important diagnostic tool in the early assessment, risk stratification, evaluation, and follow up of patients with neurological diseases, such as tumors, dementias (Alzheimer’s and others), movement disorders, seizure disorders, and psychiatric disorders.
What type of medical imaging involves radioactivity as the imaging source?
As in many aspects of medicine, there are risks associated with the use of X-ray imaging, which uses ionizing radiation to generate images of the body.
Why is molecular imaging important?
What molecular imaging technologies are used today?
What is radionuclide imaging?
Listen to pronunciation. (RAY-dee-oh-NOO-klide SKAN-ing) A procedure that produces pictures (scans) of structures inside the body, including areas where there are cancer cells. Radionuclide scanning is used to diagnose, stage, and monitor disease.
What is imaging in medicine?
Medical imaging refers to several different technologies that are used to view the human body in order to diagnose, monitor, or treat medical conditions.
What do you do in the Molecular Imaging Lab?
The Molecular Imaging Lab focuses on two modalities, positron emission tomography (PET) and hyperpolarized 13C magnetic resonance imaging. One particular area of interest is studying the microenvironment in cancer and its role in prognosis.
How does the UCSF molecular imaging lab work?
We focus on modalities including positron emission tomography (PET), radionuclide therapies, and hyperpolarized 13 C magnetic resonance imaging. Members of the laboratory integrate new chemistry, chemical biology, imaging, and clinical methods, with the ultimate goal of developing new methodologies to help improve patient care.
Who is the director of the molecular imaging branch?
Led by Elaine Jagoda, M.S., this laboratory’s current portfolio includes molecular imaging agents for PDL-1, PSMA, Fatty acids, mesothelin, and DHT.
What are molecules of interest in molecular imaging?
Molecules of interest may be either ones produced naturally by the body, or synthetic molecules produced in a laboratory and injected into a patient by a doctor.