At this week's Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) meeting, Dutch researchers are unveiling a preclinical research scanner that incorporates five modalities.
Called Opti-SPECT/PET/CT, the device allows SPECT, PET, CT, fluorescence, and bioluminescence imaging all at once with only a single dose of anesthesia. SPECT or PET data detail drug distribution and improve interpretation of optical data, while bioluminescence and fluorescence characterize additional tumor properties.
Opti-SPECT/PET/CT is built on a small scale for preclinical studies, according to the researchers from Delft University of Technology in Delft, the Netherlands. The hybrid system includes high-performance cameras and an on-board dark room. The molecular imaging platform could be used for new drug discovery, especially for imaging agents that could be used intraoperatively for patients undergoing cancer surgery.
To test the device, the researchers imaged models and then mice in multiple studies using a fluorescent dye optical agent and a nuclear medicine radiopharmaceutical that combines a radioactive particle with a chemical drug compound.
The agent is injected and then imaged as it targets and interacts with specific bodily functions, in this case angiogenesis. The study results confirmed the imaging system's functionality and show it was comparable to other add-on imaging platforms for preclinical studies.
![Overview of the study design. (A) The fully automated deep learning framework was developed to estimate body composition (BC) (defined as subcutaneous adipose tissue [SAT] in liters; visceral adipose tissue [VAT] in liters; skeletal muscle [SM] in liters; SM fat fraction [SMFF] as a percentage; and intramuscular adipose tissue [IMAT] in deciliters) from MRI. The fully automated framework comprised one model (model 1) to quantify different BC measures (SAT, VAT, SM, SMFF, and IMAT) as three-dimensional (3D) measures from whole-body MRI scans. The second model (model 2) was trained to identify standardized anatomic landmarks along the craniocaudal body axis (z coordinate field), which allowed for subdividing the whole-body measures into different subregions typically examined on clinical routine MRI scans (chest, abdomen, and pelvis). (B) BC was quantified from whole-body MRI in over 66,000 individuals from two large population-based cohort studies, the UK Biobank (UKB) (36,317 individuals) and the German National Cohort (NAKO) (30,291 individuals). Bar graphs show age distribution by sex and cohort. BMI = body mass index. (C) After the performance assessment of the fully automated framework, the change in BC measures, distributions, and profiles across age decades were investigated. Age-, sex-, and height-adjusted body composition reference curves were calculated and made publicly available in a web-based z-score calculator (https://circ-ml.github.io).](https://img.auntminnieeurope.com/mindful/smg/workspaces/default/uploads/2026/05/body-comp.XgAjTfPj1W.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&dpr=2&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
