Project Summary/Abstract
State-of-the-Art Preclinical PET/CT Imaging System
Yale University PET Center
The goal of this proposal is to replace an end-of-life Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
preclinical imaging system with a state-of-the-art PET/CT system that will enhance preclinical
imaging research at the Yale PET Center. PET imaging provides a unique non-invasive method
to detect and quantify biochemical processes and physiological functions in the living body. PET
imaging has broad applications in areas of oncology, cardiology, psychiatry, neurology,
metabolic disorders, inflammation, and others. The Yale PET Center is a 100% research
dedicated core facility that features radiopharmaceutical development for diverse biological
targets and high-resolution imaging with state-of-the-art quantification. Preclinical PET imaging
research is essential to support novel radiopharmaceutical probe development and mechanistic
studies not possible in humans. These studies, conducted in diverse species including mouse,
rat, bird, rabbit, dog, and nonhuman primates, benefit and advance the entire PET research
enterprise. However, the current preclinical PET-only system has reached end-of-life and lacks
CT capabilities, motivating the need for a new state-of-the-art preclinical PET/CT imaging
system. We have identified a proposed PET/CT system large enough to accommodate
nonhuman primate imaging that exhibits high sensitivity, high resolution, and excellent
quantitative accuracy. When these PET instrumentation characteristics are combined with a CT
scanner with rapid acquisition speed, the system will provide ideal characteristics for the
preclinical PET/CT research studies of Yale investigators. The preclinical PET/CT system will
improve spatial localization of new radiopharmaceutical probes, allow image-based
measurement of tracer input function, and provide proper measurement of whole-body imaging
data including correction for cardiac and respiratory motion. The proposed instrument will
support 19 NIH-funded investigators in the Departments of Cardiology, Internal Medicine,
Neurology, Neuroscience, Psychiatry, and Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, all of whom are
currently conducting NIH-funded PET imaging research. The additional capabilities and capacity
provided by the new system will also support the development of PET imaging research by new
investigators. Enhanced use of novel radiopharmaceuticals and PET/CT imaging will promote
research studying new mechanisms for diagnosis and therapy of human disease. Together,
these applications hold tremendous potential to advance public health.