Grant: Idea to Innovation

Multimodality medical imaging can synergistically and cost-effectively augment the value of imaging procedures both in research and clinic by providing complementary and more complete information on disease mechanisms, diagnosis, disease staging and efficacy of existing and novel treatments leading to better outcomes and savings in patient management, especially in cancer, brain illness and heart disease. An excellent example of such synergy is the tremendous impact that combined Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and x-ray computerized tomography (CT) has had in oncology. Compared to modern magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, CT delivers additional radiation dose and is relatively limited in the breadth of achievable information. Recent advances in instrumentation and MR imaging techniques make simultaneous (hybrid) PET and MR very powerful. Given its potential, it is expected that hybrid PET/MR will become the hybrid imaging modality of choice for most clinical and research applications in oncology, neurology and cardiology.Building the extensive experience of this University of Manitoba based PET Instrumentation Research Group, the overall aim of this proposal is to develop a novel pre-clinical MR compatible PET imaging system with an extended axial field of view (FOV) of 100 mm, thereby allowing simultaneous PET/MRI imaging of an entire mouse in one bed position. With funding from this I2I application, an existing prototype detector with 28 mm FOV will be fully re-engineered to create the 100 mm long detector module. The commercial PET system that will use this technology will be a unique commercial product, providing superior spatial resolution and sensitivity over current commercially available PET systems, while adding the ability to perform simultaneous PET/MRI imaging.