New Method Improves PET Imaging of Awake Animals

A new PET imaging platform capable of simultaneously scanning multiple animals while they are awake has been developed by researchers at McGill University and University of Antwerp. The platform uses a specially designed insert and an algorithm that tracks a single animal's head movements.

"We think our breakthrough will open a new era of small animal PET imaging research and unprecedented experimental designs that many researchers have been anxious to test for a long time," says Pedro Rosa-Neto, an author on the paper published earlier this month in ScienceDirect.

Previous methods developed to avoid using anesthesia required external tracking or surgical implantation of devices to scan the brain of moving animals. The new method offers a less invasive means of conducting imaging studies and allow animals to interact in a "natural" manner during scans.

"From the start of this project our goal was to develop a practical approach to imaging awake animals. After more than three years of development, we delivered an approach that can be easily implemented so scientists can focus on new exciting biology questions that can be answered rather than on technical issues," adds Jeroen Verhaeghe, senior author.

According to the team, this new platform will be used to delve into the extent to which brain cells use glucose as the main energy source as well as investigate the neurochemical basis of sympathy, fear, learning, and memory in real time in awake animals.