Abstract
The development of hybrid optical tomography methods to improve imaging performance has been suggested over a decade ago and has been experimentally demonstrated in animals and humans. Here we examined in vivo performance of a camera-based hybrid fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) system for 360° imaging combined with X-ray computed tomography (XCT). Offering an accurately co-registered, information-rich hybrid data set, FMT-XCT has new imaging possibilities compared to stand-alone FMT and XCT. We applied FMT-XCT to a subcutaneous 4T1 tumor mouse model, an Aga2 osteogenesis imperfecta model and a Kras lung cancer mouse model, using XCT information during FMT inversion. We validated in vivo imaging results against post-mortem planar fluorescence images of cryoslices and histology data. Besides offering concurrent anatomical and functional information, FMT-XCT resulted in the most accurate FMT performance to date. These findings indicate that addition of FMT optics into the XCT gantry may be a potent upgrade for small-animal XCT systems.
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Acknowledgements
We thank A. Sarantopoulos, R. Schulz and M.W. Koch for help with cryoslicer and FMT-XCT measurements. V.N., A.A and V.E. acknowledge support from the EU Framework Program 7 FMT-XCT grant agreement 201792.
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V.N. designed and supervised the project and wrote the paper. A.A. wrote the paper, worked on method development, performed the FMT-XCT experiments, carried out data reconstructions and analyzed the results. V.E. performed Kras and osteogenesis imperfecta experiments. M.H.d.A. supervised C.C. E.H. performed neck tumor experiments. C.C. prepared the mouse model for osteogenesis imperfecta experiments.
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Ale, A., Ermolayev, V., Herzog, E. et al. FMT-XCT: in vivo animal studies with hybrid fluorescence molecular tomography–X-ray computed tomography. Nat Methods 9, 615–620 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2014
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2014
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