Clinic of Nuclear Medicine, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany
Clinic of Nuclear Medicine, Jena University Hospital, Jena, Germany.
J Nucl Med. 2018 Dec;59(12):1901-1906. doi: 10.2967/jnumed.118.210310. Epub 2018 Jun 22.
In ovo studies are a valuable option in preclinical research, but imaging studies are severely limited by the costs of dedicated equipment needed for small-sized eggs. We sought to verify the feasibility of using larger, ostrich, eggs () for imaging on the PET/CT scanners used for routine clinical investigations. Ostrich eggs were incubated until shortly before hatching, prepared for intravitelline venous injection of contrast medium or radiotracer, and imaged using native CT, contrast-enhanced CT, and PET/CT. Any technical adaptations that were needed to improve the outcome were noted. Of the 34 eggs initially incubated, 12 became fully available for imaging of embryonal development. In ovo imaging with conventional PET/CT not only was feasible but also provided images of good quality, including on dynamic PET imaging. In ovo imaging with ostrich eggs and routine clinical scanners may allow broader application of this field of preclinical research, obviating costly dedicated equipment and reducing the number of animals needed for classic animal research. Further experiments are warranted to refine this novel approach, especially to reduce motion artifacts and improve monitoring of viability.
在体研究是临床前研究中的一种有价值的选择，但由于需要专门的设备来处理小型鸡蛋，因此成像研究受到严重限制。我们试图验证使用较大的鸵鸟蛋进行成像的可行性，这些鸵鸟蛋可用于常规临床研究的 PET/CT 扫描仪。将鸵鸟蛋孵化至孵化前不久，准备好进行卵黄静脉内注射造影剂或放射性示踪剂，并使用原生 CT、对比增强 CT 和 PET/CT 进行成像。记录了为改善结果而需要的任何技术改进。最初孵育的 34 个鸡蛋中，有 12 个鸡蛋完全可用于胚胎发育的成像。使用常规的 PET/CT 进行在体成像不仅是可行的，而且还提供了高质量的图像，包括动态 PET 成像。使用鸵鸟蛋和常规临床扫描仪进行在体成像可能会使这一领域的临床前研究得到更广泛的应用，避免了昂贵的专用设备，并减少了经典动物研究所需的动物数量。需要进一步的实验来改进这种新方法，特别是要减少运动伪影并改善对生存能力的监测。
