Molecular imaging technologies under development include:
Optical imaging is primarily used as a research tool although some applications are entering initial clinical testing. Potential applications include imaging gene expression; cell trafficking, therapeutic monitoring, drug delivery and the detection of ovarian cancer, malignant skin lesions, lymphoma, and intestinal adenoma.
This ultrasound technique may provide differential diagnoses of cancer, including breast, ovarian, head and neck, prostate, liver and pancreatic as well as a means of drug delivery.
This MRI technique may help:
This MRI technique, which analyzes microscopic water molecules surrounding the brain’s white matter fibers, may be used to diagnose cerebral ischemia and to investigate brain disorders including tumors.
Also called co-registration, fusion imaging combines images produced by two imaging techniques into one. This capability can be applied to PET, ultrasound, SPECT, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), MR spectroscopy and a growing range of optical technologies.