Complementary molecular imaging technologies: High resolution SPECT, PET and MRI

Molecular imaging has emerged as a powerful approach for studying drug interactions with cellular targets noninvasively in animal models and humans. Most large pharmaceutical companies are now building capacity for molecular imaging or seeking partnerships with research facilities. Therefore, it is timely to review the features and capabilities of the key technologies – single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Owing to the differences in the information they convey and the time scales on which they are able to measure the kinetics of labelled drugs, they form a highly complementary set of technologies.

Section editors:Bart Ellenbroek – Radboud University, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsTwan Ederveen – NV Organon, Oss, The Netherlands