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Project

PET/MR imaging and quantification of neuroinflammation, tau and synaptic density in neurodegenerative diseases

For brain PET imaging with abundant target expression throughout the whole brain or with changing target density depending on pathology or disease stage, arterial blood sampling is mandatory for accurate PET quantification. While these PET imaging procedures can be highly relevant for clinical use or drug development, the invasive nature of arterial cannulation has a substantial impact on patient comfort while the complexity, logistics and overall costs of these procedures are significantly increased.

The overall research goal is to maximize the potential of these PET imaging procedures by increasing patient comfort and cost effectiveness. For this purpose, non- or less-invasive quantification approaches will be developed taking full advantage of simultaneous PETMR imaging and the integrated, high-end PET system with an extended field of view and excellent resolution and sensitivity properties.

A first approach will focus on Image Derived Input Functions (IDIF) and will develop a new processing methodology that combines complementary MR information on vessel structure with dynamic PET imaging to improve the carotid segmentation and thus the accuracy of the extracted IDIF. The integrated PETMR system provides a unique platform for this technology development as it acquires MR vessel information and dynamic PET data in one scanning session, thus ensuring spatial alignment and therefore allowing straightforward integration of complementary, multimodal information. Moreover, the integrated, state-of-the-art PET system provides an optimal quantification of the PET signal in smaller vessel structures. This IDIF approach will be validated against blood sampling using arterial cannulation for brain PET imaging of neuroinflammation.

A second approach will develop a multi-parametric and more patient specific approach for a reference tissue based quantification of dynamic PET data. This is particularly relevant for brain pathologies where the affected brain regions are not known a priori (e.g. TBI, CTE, stroke). In a first step a PET only approach will be evaluated to identify reference tissue based on differences in tracer kinetics between healthy and affected brain tissue. In a next step, dynamic PET data will be combined with MR data in a multi-parametric approach for better tissue characterization and reference tissue identification. For this purpose, characterization parameters from dedicated MR sequences such as DWI, DTI and ASL will be implemented and optimized.

This project will take full advantage of the multimodal imaging potential of an integrated, simultaneous PETMR imaging and will focus on novel PET imaging probes for synaptic density, tau and neuroinflammation to maximize the potential of these PET tracers for clinical use and drug development.

Date:1 Jan 2018 →  31 Dec 2021
Keywords:Brain imaging
Disciplines:Medicinal products, Medical imaging and therapy
Project type:PhD project