NCTR Research Highlights

NCTR Research Highlights
National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) Opens Bio-Imaging Facility

NCTR hosted an open house on October 30, 2009 for the newly completed Bio-Imaging Facility. The new facility houses small animal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Spectroscopy (MRS) and MicroPET technologies and is located within the vivarium providing multiple species access. MRI and PET technologies are and have been used in clinical practice for over 20 years to distinguish changes in anatomical features (MRI) and biochemical processes (PET) in health and disease. By comparison, the instruments in the Bio-Imaging Facility operate at higher field strengths and with less variability than clinical instruments providing investigators opportunities for more complex experimental designs and resulting discoveries. As with clinical applications, the non-invasive nature of these technologies enable continued monitoring of animals, providing new possibilities for biomarker discovery for safety and efficacy and for cross-species comparisons. The facility is open to studies from all disciplines at the NCTR and other FDA Centers and is managed by a newly-hired MRI/MRS specialist with more than a decade of pre-clinical imaging experience.

For more information contact Dr. William Slikker, Director, NCTR, or Dr. Merle Paule, Director, Division of Neurotoxicology, NCTR.

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NCTR Research Highlights