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June 2, 2016
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans are currently used by clinicians and scientists in the medical imaging of tumours and the diagnosis of various types of brain and heart disease. PET scans follow the distribution of radioactive substances called radiotracers, which are injected into subjects. In combination with computerised tomography (CT) imaging, these scans provide detailed three-dimensional images of where the radiotracer is accumulated within the body, in particular revealing areas affected by specific disease processes.
C4TS neuroscientists have now used PET/CT technology, combined with a novel radiotracer substance, to detect and measure the inflammatory response in the spinal cord following traumatic spinal cord injury.
Previous studies have shown that high levels of neuroinflammation are related to the severity of spinal cord injury and to poorer outcomes such as paralysis. The new technique will enable scientists to see exactly where neuroinflammation is happening, without invasive surgery, and to follow the disease process in more detail in vivo. It could also support the development of specific diagnostic and therapeutic tools for spinal cord injury, that clinicians could use in pre-hospital care or following surgical interventions.
Lead researcher and veterinarian Dr Jordi Lopez Tremoleda, Experimental Models Lead at C4TS, said "Traumatic spinal cord injury is a devastating condition which affects millions of people worldwide and causes major disability, including paralysis. There are currently no effective treatments. Our study has allowed us to accurately image lesions of the injured spinal cord and the resultant inflammatory response in live rodents. This is an important precondition for the development and testing of new therapies that could target and modify damaging neuroinflammation in patients who have suffered a spinal cord injury. "
The study was jointly funded by the Barts Charity, GE Healthcare Ltd, the Blizard Institute Experimental Medicine Awards and the Barts Cancer Institute Imaging Centre.
The paper is published in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging and can be read in full here. The PDF version can be downloaded here.
