Preclinical PET/CT scanners - scanner 1 (partial funding)

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: Funded in 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 543350935

The Department of Preclinical Imaging and Radiopharmacy with the Werner Siemens Imaging Center (WSIC) is an internationally renowned institute conducting interdisciplinary and translational basic research in the field of biomedicine using state-of-the-art imaging technologies. With over 100 employees and a comprehensive infrastructure, the WSIC conducts cutting-edge research in the fields of oncology, immunology, infection, inflammation, neurology and detector research. Positron emission tomography (PET) is the fundamental pillar in the research orientation of the department, which can be used to detect low-level radioactively labeled substances (so-called radiopharmaceuticals/tracers) that specifically reveal metabolic changes in complex disease patterns (e.g., cancer immunotherapies). Together with magnetic resonance imaging (PET/MRI) or computed tomography (PET/CT), anatomical and functional imaging data can be linked. The 2 preclinical PET/CT scanners applied for in this and a second, accompanying proposal will replace the existing 3 preclinical standalone PET scanners ('end-of-lifetime', >15 years already in use). With the current devices, operation is no longer guaranteed in the long term due to the 'end-of-lifetime' issue (the vendor stopped the preclinical business in 2014, official service support of the systems will end on Dec 31st, 2024). The replacement of the equipment will at the same time be accompanied by a significant quality improvement of the measured PET data due to new technology used (improvement of time resolution and spatial resolution, more advanced correction and reconstruction algorithms, optimized protocols and workflows, etc.). This will not only enable but additionally strengthen the continuation of cutting-edge research at WSIC.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Präklinische PET/CT-Scanner - Scanner 1 (Teilfinanzierung)
• Instrumentation Group: 3321 Positronen-Emissionstomographen (PET)
• Applicant Institution: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen
• Leader: Professor Dr. Bernd Pichler