Neuroimaging clinics of North America
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Neuroimaging Clin. N. Am. · Nov 2006
ReviewMR spectroscopy: truly molecular imaging; past, present and future.
MR spectroscopy involves the examination of molecules in a much more transparent manner than does routine, clinical, conventional MR imaging. Its performance and interpretation goes back to the origins of MR imaging in nuclear magnetic resonance and also points to a future in which functional type techniques such as molecular imaging tell more than simple anatomy, but also the physiology of what is seen when looking at a patient's radiological images. A brief discussion of the past, present, and appreciation of MR spectroscopy as a molecular imaging modality. Several techniques, applications, and controversies aso are discussed in this article.
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Many breakthrough scientific discoveries have been made using opioid imaging, particularly in the fields of pain, addiction and epilepsy research. Recent developments include the application of ever higher resolution whole-brain positron emission tomography (PET) scanners, the availability of several radioligands, the combination of PET with advanced structural imaging, advances in modeling macroparameters of PET ligand binding, and large-scale statistical analysis of imaging datasets. Suitable single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) tracers are lacking, but with the increase in the number of available PET (or PET/CT) cameras and cyclotrons thanks to the clinical successes of PET in oncology, PET may become widespread enough to overcome this limitation. In the coming decade, we hope to see a more widespread application of the techniques developed in healthy volunteers to patients and more clinical impact of opioid imaging.