title: Current Trends in Preclinical PET System Design.
abstract: PET is used in laboratory small-animal research to visualize and track certain molecular processes associated with diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and neurologic disorders in living small-animal models of disease. The current and next generation of PET molecular imaging probes, assays, and imaging systems still have substantial room to improve PET's ability to detect, visualize, and quantify low concentrations of probe interacting with its target, which we refer to as the molecular sensitivity. This article focuses on the challenges of advancing PET system and some of the new imaging system technologies under investigation to enhance PET's molecular sensitivity substantially.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Imaging Program, Division of Nuclear Medicine, Department of Radiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 300 Pasteur Drive, MC 5128, Alway Building, Room M001, Stanford, CA 94305-5128, USA. Electronic address: cslevin@stanford.edu.
authors.forename: Craig S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Levin
authors.affiliation: Division of Nuclear Medicine, Geneva University Hospital, CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Habib
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zaidi