title: Observation of glucose metabolism in the thalamic nuclei by fusion PET/MRI.
abstract: The anatomy of the thalamus and its connectivity with surrounding areas are known. Localized metabolic activities at the thalamic substructural level have not been measured in vivo in human brains because of limited resolution and contrast.
  
  
  METHODS
  The energy metabolism and fine anatomic structures of the thalamus were measured simultaneously in 5 healthy subjects using a PET/MRI fusion imaging system. Measured metabolism in individual thalamic nuclei was quantified by corresponding PET/MRI images.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Substructures of the thalamus were clearly distinguished in 7.0-T MRI images, and the corresponding metabolic activities measured by PET were integrated by the PET/MRI system. The medial dorsal thalamic nucleus consistently showed the highest glucose uptake among the thalamic nuclei.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results demonstrate that substructure-specific metabolic activities in the thalamus can be measured with a PET/MRI system consisting of an ultra-high-resolution PET component and an ultra-high-field MRI component.
authors.affiliation: Neuroscience Research Institute, Gachon University of Medicine and Science, Incheon, South Korea. zcho@gachon.ac.kr
authors.forename: Zang-Hee
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Young-Don
authors.initials: YD
authors.lastname: Son
authors.forename: Hang-Keun
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Nam-Beom
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Eun-Jung
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Sang-Yoon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Je-Geun
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.forename: Chan-Woong
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Young-Bo
authors.initials: YB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ogawa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18 / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D005947:Glucose / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography / Q000379:methods*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D013382:Subtraction Technique; D013787:Thalamic Nuclei / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D019788:Fluorodeoxyglucose F18; D005947:Glucose