SNM's first-of-its-kind forum allowed nearly 70 forward-thinking researchers, commercial sector representatives and officials from national government/regulatory agencies over three days to examine current and future applications of molecular imaging. Some of the group's discussion points are included here.

Basic research: Research leads clinical practice, and one of the challenges to the medical and regulatory communities is to facilitate the introduction of new imaging techniques into patient management. As technology advances, scientists will further their ability to use different probes with the whole spectrum of molecular imaging modalities to identify new targets within cells and associated with cell membranes and receptors and to quantify treatment effects on the expression of these markers. Traditional tracer-based nuclear medicine research will be expanded within the molecular imaging arena to include optical imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy. These new imaging technologies, particularly associated with new probe development, can provide new contrast to medical imaging. Optical imaging is currently limited by its spatial resolution and imaging depth, and thermoacoustic tomography or radio frequencybased photoacoustic tomography is being developed to meet this challenge.


Instrumentation: An evolution in imaging technology is occurring and will continue as imaging capabilities continue to expand from the anatomical to the functional and to the molecular. The expansion of imaging capabilities will allow the identification of imaging probes specific for molecular processes, and new multimodality imaging technologies will be developed to appropriately utilize these new probes, focusing on normal and abnormal biological processes. The future will bring nanoparticle delivery vehicles to deliver gene therapy to patients, smart contrast agents, target-specific optical agents and cell-based (stem cell) imaging therapy.

Drug development: The appropriate use of molecular imaging in drug discovery and development could significantly speed up the development process and save millions of health care dollars. Molecular imaging techniques are already being used in receptor occupancy studies and with transgenic animal models to validate drug development. In clinical trials, molecular imaging probes will also play an increasingly important role in developing new, smarter, and safer drugs for patients.

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