PET-CT (ARA-MBI)
Mediso NanoPET-CT Small Animal Imaging System
This small animal PET-CT scanner is located at the Alfred Research Alliance-Monash Biomedical Imaging (ARA-MBI) site in Prahran.
The Mediso NanoPET/CT is a small animal preclinical scanner suitable for a wide variety of radioactive tracer imaging and computer tomography (CT). Typical applications for PET tracers include oncology, cardiology, metabolic, neurodegeneration and obesity research. The CT component is ideally suited to a number of applications including bone, organ, anatomy and developmental biology research.
Benefits of PET-CT
- High sensitivity and resolution; increasing signal to noise, reducing radiation exposure and scan times – ultimately reducing study numbers and enabling multiple scans in the same animal
- Multi-bed increases throughput and ensures efficient use of radioligands
- Combined PET/CT enables precision anatomical localisation of radiotracer without requirement for MRI (dependent on application)
- Physiologically gated acquisitions for optimal in-vivo lung imaging
Capabilities
- Can be flexibly configured to acquire PET/CT, PET or CT
- >1mm FWHM PET resolution
- >10um CT resolution
- Optimised for low dose radiotracer/X-ray acquisitions enabling longitudinal in-vivo studies
- Whole animal PET/CT (300mmx125x125mm)
Research applications
- Wide range of molecular imaging and computed tomography applications for studies of animal models of health and disease, drug discovery and toxicology
- Bench to bedside and back again translational applications
- Receptor/enzyme/transporter mapping, evaluation of metabolism, glucose metabolism, drug receptor occupancy/kinetics, molecular/anatomical biomarkers for disease aetiology, ontology, prognosis, therapeutic efficacy, patient segregation etc
- High-resolution anatomical assessment of both soft and hard tissue in vivo, post-mortem, surgical resections/biopsies
PET-CT technical specifications
- 16cm gantry bore to accommodate imaging of mice, rats and rabbits with interchangeable beds and radiation shields
- Low dose CT protocols (<50mGy for a three minute scan) are compatible with longitudinal rodent studies
- Imaging beds provide integrated animal support, with gas anaesthesia and controlled heating and monitoring
- Open access system with a one-step animal loading procedure and single motion PET and CT acquisition to enable automatic fusion of PET and CT images
- Reconstructed PET resolution is 1mm and CT resolution is down to 10 micron
- Axial scanning up to 300mm and transaxial scanning up to 125mm
Compatible equipment
- Up to four mice can be imaged simultaneously with the four-animal bed
- VivoQuant software for analysis is available in the PET/CT room
- Isoflurane anaesthesia and necessary physiological monitoring (temperature, respiration, heart rate)
- On-site radio-HPLC for radiometabolite and kinetic modelling analyses
- Hidex AMG Gamma counter for nuclear medicine and PET applications, featuring an onboard balance and 250 sample capacity
Additional support
We have a team of highly experienced imaging staff that can assist with all aspects of your study, from study design and protocol development through to image analysis and manuscript preparation.
Instrument access
- Bookings are made via iLab, as per standard Monash Biomedical Imaging booking protocols
- Users need to liaise with Monash Biomedical Imaging to obtain access to the scanner, animal holding and radiopharmacy rooms, and regarding ARA-MBI-specific training/OHS requirements. Please email enquiries.mbi@monash.edu
- Users should note requirement for radiation safety training and individual user radiation licence (Dept of Health) before use of radiopharmaceuticals can commence.