Endocrine Abstracts

Medical imaging techniques have been in routine clinical use across many different diseases for the better part of 100 years. During this time, there has been a trend towards progressively greater sensitivity of detection and improved image resolution. The advent of the true molecular imaging techniques of PET (Positron Emission Tomography), SPECT (Single Photon Emission Tomography) and Optical imaging, is now enabling the visualization of biological processes at the cellular and molecular level. This enhanced capability has really enabled medical imaging to progress from a morphology-based measure to one that reflects functional characteristics, thus allowing academic and pharmaceutical researchers alike, to more rapidly examine the role of specific molecular targets in disease processes. The application of these techniques in the characterization of pre-clinical disease models will be reviewed. Current examples include approaches to image cellular activation with metabolic agents and markers of cell proliferation, as well as activation markers. Receptor- and enzyme-targeted molecular imaging agents are already making the transition from pre-clinical research into clinical trials and are likely to have a major impact in the way that healthcare is managed. A multitude of examples now exist from clinical disciplines such as oncology, neuro-psychiatry and cardiology. A summary of these clinical approaches and their potential for the molecular imaging of tissue repair processes will be discussed.