Issue “noninvasive molecular imaging and theranostic probes”: New concepts in myocardial imaging

Cardiovascular applications continue to be a driving force for new developments in radionuclide imaging. Recent years have seen an evolution of myocardial perfusion imaging systems towards optimized radiation detection sensitivity, leading to fast and low dose studies with high image quality. Additional advances in hard- and software facilitated the integration of computed tomography and nuclear imaging, and enabled absolute quantification of myocardial blood flow. Finally, non-perfusion tracers and clinical indications outside of coronary artery disease (e.g. in endocarditis, infiltrative cardiomyopathies or regenerative medicine) have resulted in a growth of molecular-targeted myocardial imaging, aiming at improved guidance of increasingly specific therapies - in a manner similar to current oncologic applications of nuclear imaging.