Multimodality Imaging

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Noninvasive “multimodal” in vivo imaging is not just becoming standard practice in the clinic, but is rapidly changing the evolving field of experimental imaging of genetic expression (“molecular imaging”). The development of multimodality methodology based on nuclear medicine (NM), positron emission tomography (PET) imaging, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and optical imaging is the single biggest focus in many imaging and cancer centers worldwide and is bringing together researchers and engineers from the far-ranging fields of molecular pharmacology to nanotechnology engineering. The rapid growth of in vivo multimodality imaging arises from the convergence of established fields of in vivo imaging technologies with molecular and cell biology. The cross-pollination of these disciplines has been accelerated in part by the establishment of the National Institutes of Health NCI P20 and P50 awards, for example, and by the sheer potential of the technology. Multimodality imaging is widely considered to involve the incorporation of two or more imaging modalities, usually within the setting of a single examination using, for example, dual- or triple-labeled optical or nuclear medicine “reporter” agents or by performing ultrasound or optical studies within the MR, single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), or x-ray computed tomography (CT) environment. Clinically, the best example of multimodality imaging is seen in the rapid evolution of PET-SPECT and PET-CT scanner hybrids. The PET modality has developed into perhaps the most used “multimodal” imaging method. The incorporation of PET into single, hybrid, and multimodality units to provide functional (typically from injected F-18DG studies) and anatomic information is becoming extremely popular,1–2 so much so that, for example, PET/CT hybrids can be found in outpatient screening centers located in shopping malls. The role of any multimodal imaging …