Center for Advanced Molecular Imaging

The 9.4T Bruker Biospec MRI system (30 cm bore) is designed for hardware-intensive experiments such as high resolution imaging, functional imaging, and diffusion imaging. The large gradient set has an internal diameter of 20 cm and a gradient strength of 200 mT/m, and is suitable for imaging larger rodents such as rabbits and guinea pigs. The gradient insert with 12 cm diameter and a gradient strength of 450 mT/m is suitable for imaging mice and rats. An AutoPac laser positioning system enables rapid and precise sample positioning. The system has four receive channels for parallel imaging, and four transmit channels, including one for X-nuclei.

The 7T Bruker PharmaScan MRI system (16 cm bore) is designed for high throughput experiments for imaging anatomy and basic function. Its gradient set has a 9 cm bore suitable for imaging mice and rats, and a strength of 120 mT/m. Four receive channels enable parallel imaging.

Pricing is per hour and is available on request. Image data can be returned to the investigator for analysis or can be analyzed by experienced CAMI staff for an hourly fee.

In April 2015, a Mediso nanoScan Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scanner was installed in CAMI. The nanoScan PET/CT has the highest spatial resolution on the market at 0.3 mm. The nanoScan’s 11 cm bore size is suitable for imaging mice and rats. The LYSO:Ce based detectors have > 6% sensitivity with image quantification accuracy over 97%. Attenuation correction is accomplished with the CT module, which can image at 10 µm resolution. The GPU based reconstruction is performed during acquisition, with reconstruction often finishing only minutes after acquisition is completed. Therefore the system is capable of high throughput without compromising image quality.

Pricing is per hour and is available on request. Imaging data can be returned to the investigator for analysis, or can be analyzed by experienced CAMI staff for an hourly fee.

A state-of-the-art micro MILabs U-SPECT+/CT Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) with x-ray Computed Tomography was installed in CAMI in August 2014. It has higher spatial resolution than its competitors (0.25 mm) and higher sensitivity (as high as 12000 cps/MBq), using three NaI(TI) 472 × 595 detector panels. Three general purpose collimators are available; one each for mice, rats, and rabbits. There are two extra high resolution collimators, one each for mice and rats. The CT system has 12-bit, 1280 × 1024 detector, capable of 80 µm voxel size. An animal monitoring system allows for cardiac and respiratory gated image acquisition (M2M BioVet). Image acquisition is performed on a quad-core CPU computer and image reconstruction on a 32 core workstation.

Pricing is per hour and is available on request. Imaging data can be sent to the investigator for analysis, or can be analyzed by experienced CAMI staff on a per-hour cost basis.

Imagine imaging proteins in live cells, engineered biomaterials, novel therapeutics, and other inventions. See fluorescent sources in fishes and rodents in vivid color. Look more deeply into tissue using near-infrared wavelengths. Illuminate with more speed from the top (epi) or with more sensitivity from the bottom (trans). Our instrumentation features ten 30nm excitation and eighteen 20nm emission filters.

CAMI’s whole-body optical imaging system highlights cells and probes in the blue to near-infrared (NIR) range. Reporter gene technology is ideal for cell tracking, tumor studies, and nanoparticle colocalization. High-sensitivity quantitative imaging. Advanced tomographic 3D analysis. Image a single cell or as many as five mice with a 23cm field of view.

SPECT image analysis can be performed by experienced CAMI staff for an hourly fee. We have access to a variety of software packages including Amira 6.0, VivoQuant, and PMOD. We can also write custom analysis modules in Matlab.

PET image analysis can be performed by experienced CAMI staff for an hourly fee. We have access to a variety of software packages including Amira 6.0, VivoQuant, and PMOD. We can also write custom analysis modules in Matlab.

MR image analysis can be performed by experienced CAMI staff for an hourly fee. We have access to a variety of software packages including Paravision 6, JIM 6, Amira 6.0, VivoQuant, and PMOD. We can also write custom analysis modules in Matlab.