Molecular imaging: The road ahead

ORGN 187

Hans D. Nikol, Peter K. Bachmann, and Ralf Hoffmann. Philips Research, 52066 Aachen, Germany
Diagnostic imaging is undergoing an increasingly fast transition from structural to molecular imaging, i.e. imaging of biological processes in the living body. It is triggered by the rapid advancements in biology to gain insight and begin to understand the causes for disease on a cellular and biochemical level. This will have dramatic effects on future healthcare shifting the emphasis towards much earlier diagnosis and personalized treatment. Contrast agents targeted at specific molecules expressed during disease will play a key role in molecular imaging. Their development poses a challenge to research in a variety of disciplines: biology of cellular processes and identification of targets, chemistry to synthesize targeted agents, physics to understand contrast generation in a variety of imaging modalities, and testing in animal models as the first step for clinical trials. Examples of molecular imaging in various modalities will be presented together with implications for contrast agent development.