Molecular imaging using light-absorbing imaging agents and a clinical optical breast imaging system--a phantom study.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to determine the feasibility of using a clinical optical breast scanner with molecular imaging strategies based on modulating light transmission.

Procedures: Different concentrations of single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT; 0.8-20.

Imaging of glioma tumor with endogenous fluorescence tomography.

Tomographic imaging of a glioma tumor with endogenous fluorescence is demonstrated using a noncontact single-photon counting fan-beam acquisition system interfaced with microCT imaging. The fluorescence from protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) was found to be detectable, and allowed imaging of the tumor from within the cranium, even though the tumor presence was not visible in the microCT image. The combination of single-photon counting detection and normalized fluorescence to transmission detection at each channel allowed robust imaging of the signal.

A microcomputed tomography guided fluorescence tomography system for small animal molecular imaging.

A prototype small animal imaging system was created for coupling fluorescence tomography (FT) with x-ray microcomputed tomography (microCT). The FT system has the potential to provide synergistic information content resultant from using microCT images as prior spatial information and then allows overlay of the FT image onto the original microCT image. The FT system was designed to use single photon counting to provide maximal sensitivity measurements in a noncontact geometry.