Researchers Validate Important New in Vivo Imaging Research Method for Studying Drug Efficiency and Disease Progression

Study Results Show that Accurate in Vivo Quantitation of Drug Distribution and Therapeutic Effect is Possible and Important

Northridge, CA, October 26, 2006 --(PR.com)-- In a paper published in the online edition of the Journal of Molecular Imaging and Biology (DOI 10.1007/s11307-006-0058-z, 10/12/2006), a team of Mayo Clinic researchers led by Stephanie Carlson, M.D., reported that combined MicroSPECT and micro CT imaging can be used to accurately quantify intratumoral radioisotope uptake in vivo and is more reliable than planar or MicroSPECT imaging alone.

The research team carried out the study using a dual modality MicroSPECT/micro CT in vivo imaging system from Gamma Medica-Ideas.

Using in vivo imaging to collect quantitation data can save valuable drug development and research time and improve the accuracy of pre-clinical research. Quantitation is a term used to describe the process by which researchers measure, or quantify, how much of a drug or therapeutic agent is reaching its target. In studying cancer drugs, for example, researchers are keenly interested in ensuring tumor-destroying drugs reach the tumors they are intended to destroy. The ability to observe and measure therapeutic agent delivery in live subjects gives researchers an extremely powerful tool as they develop new drugs and study disease progression.

About Gamma Medica-Ideas
Gamma Medica-Ideas (GM-I) designs, develops and manufactures next-generation imaging systems used in diagnostic medicine, medical research, and for security and safety applications. GM-I’s expertise in unique next-generation, integrated front-end electronics allows it to produce some of the world’s only truly digital imaging equipment. The company develops and produces all of its key electrical components and systems, such as:
• Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs)
• Detector modules
• Camera heads built with unique solid-state technology
• Systems and software featuring advanced multi-modality image fusion, registration and processing capabilities.

GM-I is a world leader in developing imaging systems that contain two or more imaging modalities. Combining different imaging modalities in single instruments creates imaging tools with powerful diagnostic and research capabilities. GM-I’s products include the LumaGEM® functional breast imaging system for early diagnosis of breast cancer and the FLEX and FLEX Triumph Pre-clinical Imaging Platforms for medical research and drug development. FLEX systems are used by medical researchers and drug companies that use in vivo imaging techniques and molecular markers to dramatically speed up studies of disease progression and therapy. GM-I’s FLEX and FLEX Triumph systems include:
• X-SPECT® - the market leader in the pre-clinical SPECT category, and the only commercially available solid-state, eV-CZT-based SPECT pre-clinical imaging system.
• X-PET™ - a pre-clinical PET system with a large axial field of view and the highest sensitivity among small animal PET systems.
• X-O™ - a high-speed volume micro-CT instrument
Any two of the above systems can be combined in the FLEX Triumph imaging gantry, as can all three.

GM-I’s imaging systems are used by some of the world’s leading medical institutions, including Harvard University, Mayo Clinic, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, Switzerland’s Center for Radiopharmaceutical Science, Yale University and many others.

More information is available at www.gm-ideas.com.

###
Contact
Gamma Medica-Ideas
Deborah Matthew
818-709-2468 ext. 131
www.gm-ideas.com
ContactContact
Categories