Noninvasive Quantification of Radiation-Induced Lung Injury Using a Targeted Molecular Imaging Probe.

Purpose: Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a progressive inflammatory process seen after irradiation for lung cancer. The disease can be insidious, often characterized by acute pneumonitis followed by chronic fibrosis with significant associated morbidity. No therapies are approved for RILI, and accurate disease quantification is a major barrier to improved management.

Noninvasive Quantification of Radiation-Induced Lung Injury using a Targeted Molecular Imaging Probe.

Rationale: Radiation-induced lung injury (RILI) is a progressive inflammatory process commonly seen following irradiation for lung cancer. The disease can be insidious, often characterized by acute pneumonitis followed by chronic fibrosis with significant associated morbidity. No therapies are approved for RILI, and accurate disease quantification is a major barrier to improved management.

Selective atrophy of the cervical enlargement in whole spinal cord MRI of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a deadly neurodegenerative disorder affecting motor neurons in the spinal cord and brain. Studies have reported on atrophy within segments of the cervical cord, but we are not aware of previous investigations of the whole spinal cord. Herein we present our findings from a 3T MRI study involving 32 subjects (15 ALS participants and 17 healthy controls) characterizing cross-sectional area along the entire cord.

Erratum: Measuring temporal stability of positron emission tomography standardized uptake value bias using long-lived sources in a multicenter network.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1117/1.JMI.

Measuring temporal stability of positron emission tomography standardized uptake value bias using long-lived sources in a multicenter network.

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a quantitative imaging modality, but the computation of standardized uptake values (SUVs) requires several instruments to be correctly calibrated. Variability in the calibration process may lead to unreliable quantitation. Sealed source kits containing traceable amounts of [Formula: see text] were used to measure signal stability for 19 PET scanners at nine hospitals in the National Cancer Institute's Quantitative Imaging Network.

Hybrid FDG-PET/MR compared to FDG-PET/CT in adult lymphoma patients.

Purpose: The goal of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic performance of simultaneous FDG-PET/MR including diffusion compared to FDG-PET/CT in patients with lymphoma.

Methods: Eighteen patients with a confirmed diagnosis of non-Hodgkin's (NHL) or Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) underwent an IRB-approved, single-injection/dual-imaging protocol consisting of a clinical FDG-PET/CT and subsequent FDG-PET/MR scan. PET images from both modalities were reconstructed iteratively.

Effects of ferumoxytol on quantitative PET measurements in simultaneous PET/MR whole-body imaging: a pilot study in a baboon model.

Background: Simultaneous PET/MR imaging depends on MR-derived attenuation maps (mu-maps) for accurate attenuation correction of PET data. Currently, these maps are derived from gradient-echo-based MR sequences, which are sensitive to susceptibility changes. Iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles have been used in the measurement of blood volume, tumor microvasculature, tumor-associated macrophages, and characterizing lymph nodes.

Evidence for brain glial activation in chronic pain patients.

Although substantial evidence has established that microglia and astrocytes play a key role in the establishment and maintenance of persistent pain in animal models, the role of glial cells in human pain disorders remains unknown. Here, using the novel technology of integrated positron emission tomography-magnetic resonance imaging and the recently developed radioligand (11)C-PBR28, we show increased brain levels of the translocator protein (TSPO), a marker of glial activation, in patients with chronic low back pain. As the Ala147Thr polymorphism in the TSPO gene affects binding affinity for (11)C-PBR28, nine patient-control pairs were identified from a larger sample of subjects screened and genotyped, and compared in a matched-pairs design, in which each patient was matched to a TSPO polymorphism-, age- and sex-matched control subject (seven Ala/Ala and two Ala/Thr, five males and four females in each group; median age difference: 1 year; age range: 29-63 for patients and 28-65 for controls).

Disruption of thalamic functional connectivity is a neural correlate of dexmedetomidine-induced unconsciousness.

Understanding the neural basis of consciousness is fundamental to neuroscience research. Disruptions in cortico-cortical connectivity have been suggested as a primary mechanism of unconsciousness. By using a novel combination of positron emission tomography and functional magnetic resonance imaging, we studied anesthesia-induced unconsciousness and recovery using the α₂-agonist dexmedetomidine.

Evaluation of potential PET imaging probes for the orexin 2 receptors.

A wide range of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, particularly those related to sleep, are associated with the abnormal function of orexin (OX) receptors. Several orexin receptor antagonists have been reported in recent years, but currently there are no imaging tools to probe the density and function of orexin receptors in vivo. To date there are no published data on the pharmacokinetics (PK) and accumulation of some lead orexin receptor antagonists.

Effect of MRI acoustic noise on cerebral fludeoxyglucose uptake in simultaneous MR-PET imaging.

Unlabelled: Integrated scanners capable of simultaneous positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data acquisition are now available for human use. Although the scanners' manufacturers have made substantial efforts to understand and minimize the mutual electromagnetic interference between the 2 modalities, the potential physiological inference has not been evaluated. In this study, we have studied the influence of the acoustic noise produced by the magnetic resonance (MR) gradients on brain fludeoxyglucose (FDG) uptake in the Siemens MR-BrainPET prototype.