2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Non-anesthetic, non-restraining evaluation of biological functions in animal PET with motion correction for multiple individuals

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	21K19879
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Review Section	Medium-sized Section 90:Biomedical engineering and related fields
Research Institution	Tohoku University
Principal Investigator	Shidahara Miho 東北大学, 工学研究科, 准教授 (20443070)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	渡部浩司東北大学, サイクロトロン・ラジオアイソトープセンター, 教授 (40280820) 古本祥三東北大学, サイクロトロン・ラジオアイソトープセンター, 教授 (00375198)
Project Period (FY)	2021-07-09 – 2023-03-31
Keywords	小動物 / 無麻酔 / 体動補正 / PET
Outline of Final Research Achievements	We have conducted technological development to achieve stress-free evaluation of biological functions in animals during PET examinations by integrating tracking technology of radioactive markers and motion correction processing without the need for anesthesia or restraints. In particular, we have developed an image-based source position tracking algorithm for radioactive marker tracking that is independent of the source intensity. This method has achieved a high success rate of over 95% in tracking, regardless of source intensity, size, or number. In the motion correction processing, visually similar images to static images were obtained in the motion-corrected images; however, there were slight positional deviations and spreading of the source distribution by a few millimeters. In the future, further research on tracking methods is expected for achieving ideal acquisition of functional images in experimental animals using PET devices.
Free Research Field	医用工学
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	小動物PETイメージングにおいて、放射性マーカーのトラッキング技術と体動補正処理の融合システムを構築することで、体が弱い遺伝子改変動物や病態モデル動物でもストレスフリー状態での正確な生体機能評価が可能となり、(i)臨床PET撮像条件(無麻酔・ストレスフリー)との整合性のとれた病態解明研究、(ii)創薬の分野で前臨床の段階から動物PETを薬物の評価手段としての活用、(iii)正確な薬効評価による難治疾患の治療法開発の発展、などに大きく貢献すると考えられる