Awake animal imaging: A transformative capability for second generation PET. Recent advances in biomedical engineering have led to sophisticated devices for imaging the brains of laboratory animals. H

Description

Awake animal imaging: A transformative capability for second generation PET. Recent advances in biomedical engineering have led to sophisticated devices for imaging the brains of laboratory animals. However, a major limitation of these devices is that the animal must be anaesthetised to keep the head still which interferes with the chemical signals in the brain we aim to measure. The aim of this project is to overcome this technological barrier by developing a fully enclosed animal cradle with integrated motion tracking and correction, thus enabling awake animals to be imaged in current generation scanners. The technology we create will open up new capability to study chemical signalling in the brain and generate new knowledge about the mechanisms underpinning the brain’s responses to a changing environment.. Scheme: Linkage Projects. Field: 4003 - Biomedical Engineering. Lead: Prof Steven Meikle