The Pre-Clinical Imaging Facility is a core facility in the Department of Radiology for small and large animal positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) imaging studies . Animal models of disease such as in mice and rats have become an indispensable part of research for the development of new imaging probes and validation of novel therapy drugs. To support this research endeavor, The Facility provides investigators with the tools and expertise to gather reliable and reproducible data. The Facility is located in proximity of the Cyclotron Facility and has easy access to wide array or radio-pharmaceuticals on demand. The Pre-Clinical Imaging Facility works in close collaboration with our Investigators and with the Cyclotron Facility to coordinate the imaging experiments with utmost efficiency. The services include Positron Tomography (PET), Computed Tomography (CT) and Cerenkov Imaging in small animals as well as radiopharmaceutical biodistribution studies in addition to various animal surgical procedures. Finally, the Facility constitutes the Nuclear Medicine Imaging component of the Barnes Jewish Hospital and Washington University Siteman Cancer Center Small Animal Cancer Imaging Core.
Mission and Goals:
The primary purpose of the facility is to provide an infrastructure for investigators to perform qualitative and quantitative preclinical imaging positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) research to facilitate research and discovery of diagnostic and predictive imaging biomarkers of disease and validation of radiotracers for translation to the clinic.
