A Small-Animal SPECT Imaging System Utilizing Position Tracking of Unanesthetized Mice

Recent advances in nuclear-medicine based small-animal imaging technology have enabled researchers to acquire in vivo images of the biodistribution of radiolabeled molecules in small-animal models such as mice. The standard imaging method requires the use of anesthetic and/or physical restraint to immobilize the mouse during image acquisition of the radioisotope tracer biodistribution. This has the potential to interfere with neurological or other processes that are being studied.With this in mind, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)and Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab), in collaboration with Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH)in Sydney, Australia and Johns Hopkins University, designed and constructed a high-resolution single-photon emission tomography (SPECT)system to study unrestrained,unanesthetized mice. Others have reported development of scintillator based PET isotope probes and systems to study the brain of unanesthetized rodents +Woody, 2001, Zimmer, 2002, Vaska, 2001-.