• MRI
• PET
• preclinical imaging
• SPECT

Molecular imaging can be defined as the visual representation,
characterization and quantification of biological processes at the
cellular and subcellular levels within intact living organisms.
Generally
speaking, molecular imaging involves specialized instrumentation, used alone or in combination with targeted imaging
agents, to visualize tissue characteristics and/or biochemical
markers.
The field of molecular imaging is highly multidisciplinary,
drawing from many areas of science, including, but not
limited to, molecular biology, biochemistry, physiology, physics, engineering, genetics, mathematics, chemistry,
pharmacology, immunology, and medicine.
Molecular imaging of living subjects can trace its roots back to
nuclear medicine, nevertheless many techniques are now possible.
In fact, techniques using optical signaling, as well as signaling using
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound (US),
Raman, photoacoustics (PA), and computed tomography (CT), have also been steadily increasing.
And although still in its infancy, molecular imaging is showing enormous promise
in the areas of diagnostics, therapy monitoring, drug discovery and development, and understanding nanoscale
reactions such as protein-protein interactions and enzymatic
conversion.
Biomedical research utilizing small animals such as mice and rats has expanded
dramatically in the past few years as molecular biology and imaging techniques open new
opportunities to investigate models of disease.
The growing number of mouse and rat
experiments, coupled with the increasing number of dedicated small animal imaging
systems such as microPET, optical, microCT, microMRI, ultrasound and microSPECT,
has led to the development of common technical centers for imaging small animals.
Increasingly sophisticated molecular probes and tool sets allow researchers to examine multiple processes at once in the same animal by
using different light wavelengths (optical), various molecular imaging probes (PET and SPECT) and
different contrast agents (MRI and CT), as well as
to define the anatomical structures in which these processes take place. This, in turn,
has led to a demand for comprehensive, multimodality imaging facilities that can house
animals, support imaging systems, and provide investigators with the tools, methods, and
other infrastructure necessary for successful imaging experiments.
The realization of the Center of Excellence in Preclinical Imaging (CEIP)
is part of this expansions.
The CEIP is an Academic/Industry partnership
and offers to universities, research centers and companies know-how and methodologies based on imaging
techniques in order to facilitate and
speed up the process of development of new diagnostic and
therapeutic solutions.
This thesis mainly describes two topics of the experience within the CEIP: the set-up of the PET/SPECT laboratory
and a few small animal imaging studies.
Concerning the set-up of the PET/SPECT laboratory, we focused on radioprotection issues such as:
- features of the employed sources.
- Selection of the rooms reserved for radioactive employing and description of the equipment positioning.
- Shielding calculation.
- Evaluation of the radiation exposure to both personnel and public.
- Management of the radioactive wastes and residuals.
- Classification of the areas and of the workers.

About animal experiments, a few case studies have been reported.
- A PET study performed with [18]F and [68]Ga to assess the response to Dasatinib treatment in PC-3 prostate
tumor-bearing nude mice.
- A longitudinal SPECT concerning the
evaluation of the $^{99m}$Tc-rhAnnexin V-128 imaging
effectiveness for diagnosis and monitoring
anti-rheumatic therapies in a collagen induced arthritis (CIA) model in mice.
- A multimodality study realized by combining
the 7 T MRI scanner with the YAP-(S)PET scanner.
The PET/MRI acquisitions were performed in sequential mode
with a hand-made bed support that allowed to keep
the animal in a fixed position.