In vivo Molecular Imaging

Molecular imaging is a technology visualizing molecular targets or processes of cells, tissues, and body through imaging. It is a conversion technology combining two major disciplines: molecular biology and in vivo imaging. Molecular imaging has two components: molecular probes to targeting specific biomarkers in, on, and around cells, and sensors to detect the signals from those probes. Various signals from the molecular probes can be used, such as gamma-ray, light, magnetic resonance, and ultrasound. Matching sensing technologies are used for detecting signals such as positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), optical imaging system, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and ultrasonography. We can detect the amount or activities of transporters, receptors, peptides, enzymes, and gene expressions using small molecules, peptides, antibodies, and synthetic nanoparticles. Recently, the scope of molecular imaging has been enlarging, scaling down to cellular, sub-cellular, or single molecular level using live cell fluorescent microscopy, multi-photon microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and in vivo confocal microscopy…