Sunday, October 23, 2005

Happenings in Molecular Imaging

13/9/05

  1. Both GE and Siemens are testing PET agents that can detect plaque buildup while patients still are alive--and perhaps even before they develop symptoms. GE's agent, licensed from the University of Pittsburgh, is a radioactive version of one of the chemical dyes used by pathologists to spot amyloid during autopsies. It was devised by the school's William Klunk, a geriatric psychiatrist, and radiochemist Chester Mathis. Klunk says one day a brain-plaque screening could do for Alzheimer's disease what tests of blood pressure and cholesterol levels did for heart disease. The Pittsburgh compound, injected into the body, filters into the brain, gloms on to amyloid protein present in the cortex and sends out a radioactive signal that can be detected by a PET scanner. In a study of 25 patients, researchers were able to clearly distinguish plaque levels in 16 with mild Alzheimer's versus 9 healthy controls, they wrote in a study in Annals of Neurology in 2004.

  2. Siemens is testing a plaque detector from UCLA called FDDNP; it homes in on both plaques and another Alzheimer's pathology called neurofibrillary tangles. In tests of the agent on patients with mild cognitive impairment, PET scans have shown how amyloid deposits slowly spread as the disease progresses to full-blown Alzheimer's, says Jorge R. Barrio, a molecular pharmacologist at UCLA.

  3. Kereos, an upstart shop in St. Louis, Mo., is using 200-nanometer droplets of inert perfluorocarbons as molecular pincushions to hold a payload of up to 100,000 gadolinium molecules. To this the company attaches a smart drug that clamps on to a receptor called alpha(v)beta(3) integrin, which is abundant on tumor blood vessels. Kereos predicts the resulting drug will reliably "light up" tumors as small as 1 millimeter in diameter on MRI versus 5 millimeters for today's scans. "There's nothing out there today that can find 1- and 2-millimeter tumors," says Chief Executive Robert Beardsley. The nanodroplets also can be used to deliver concentrated doses of the chemo drug Taxol directly to tumors, bypassing healthy tissue. Human trials of both versions are slated for next year.

  4. Further along is a nanoparticle that helps MRIs spot tiny clumps of tumor cells that have spread to the lymph nodes. It's already at the Food & Drug Administration for approval, but the FDA has delayed a ruling and requested more data. Devised by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and Advanced Magnetics, a publicly held outfit in Cambridge, Mass., the nanoparticle consists of balls of 8,000 iron molecules held together with a sugary coating. About half the size of a virus, the nanoparticles are sucked up by healthy lymph nodes--but not by malfunctioning cancerous ones. In a test on 80 prostate cancer patients, the nanoparticles enabled MRI scans to spot more than 95% of lymph-node metastases (confirmed later by biopsies). Old MRI scans could find fewer than half of them.

  5. MAUNA KEA TECHNOLOGIES, a company specialized in the development of in vivo cellular imaging for biomedical applications, presented today its new Cell~vizioTM 635 system at the 4th annual meeting of the Society for Molecular Imaging (SMI) in Cologne, Germany. The Cell~vizio is specifically designed to meet the needs of in vivo real-time imaging on small animals in various fields of applications. The new excitation wavelength at 635 nm makes it compatible with numerous fluorophores ( Cy5.5®, Alexa Fluor® 633, Alexa Fluor® 680, AngioSense680TM... ) which emit in the near infrared. This new system allows the visualization of molecular events at the cellular level in combination with red fluorescent dyes used in whole body imagers. This compatibility is extended to a large variety of whole body imaging technologies: MRI, PET, SPECT, CT and optical imagers. Its applications include angiogenesis, tumor detection and characterization, functional and morphological imaging and treatment evaluation.

  6. Xenogen Corporation (Nasdaq: XGEN) announced today the launch of its IVIS(R) 3D Imaging System, the first commercial three-dimensional biophotonic imaging system, on display at the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Society for Molecular Imaging (SMI) in Cologne, Germany. Leveraging Xenogen's expertise and intellectual property in biophotonic imaging, the company's IVIS 3D Imaging System is designed to help expedite drug discovery and development, and significantly reduce the cost and time to market for new therapies. As the most advanced system Xenogen offers, it is designed to provide even higher quality, more predictive data earlier in the drug discovery and development process. Evaluation units of the IVIS 3D systems have been installed at several medical institutions, including the Childrens Hospital Los Angeles (Los Angeles, Calif.) and the Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto, Canada).

  7. ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc. ("ART") (TSX:ARA), a Canadian medical device company and a leader in optical molecular imaging products for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, is pleased to announce its participation at the 4th Annual Meeting of the Society of Molecular Imaging (SMI), being held at the Gurzenich Congress Center, in Cologne, Germany, from September 7 to 10, 2005. At the SMI conference, results obtained from ART's eXplore Optix system will be featured in the Novel Probes and Activation Strategies Poster Session, to be held on September 10 at 4 PM. A poster entitled "Optical Molecular Imaging Using a Novel Peripheral Benzodiazepine Receptor (PBR)-Targeted Near Infrared Probe for Enhanced in vivo Breast Cancer Detection" will be presented by a research team headed by Dr. Darryl J. Bornhop, Professor in Vanderbilt University's Department of Chemistry. Researchers tested a molecular imaging agent synthesized in their labs, NIR-PK 11195, which targets a particular receptor overexpressed in breast cancer, the peripheral benzodiazepine receptor (PBR). Results obtained using the eXplore Optix system confirm preferential labeling in tumor regions of human breast cancer tumor-bearing mice. In addition, ROI measurements indicate that the agent's uptake kinetics can be quantitatively determined. ART Advanced Research Technologies Inc. is a leader in optical molecular imaging products for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries. ART has developed two products based on its innovative technology. The first is eXplore Optix(TM), a molecular imaging device designed for monitoring physiological changes in living systems at the preclinical study phases of new drugs. eXplore Optix(TM) is distributed by GE Healthcare and is used by industry and academic leaders worldwide to bring new and better treatments to patients faster. The second is SoftScan(R), a medical imaging device designed to improve the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. ART is commercializing its products in a global strategic alliance with GE Healthcare, a world leader in mammography and imaging. ART's shares are listed on the TSX under the ticker symbol ARA. Visit ART online at www.art.ca

  8. VisEn Medical today announced that it will formally launch its Fluorescence Molecular Tomography ("FMT") system and optical probe product line at the Fourth Annual Meeting of the Society For Molecular Imaging ("SMI"), being held September 7-10 in Cologne, Germany. A pioneer in the field of molecular imaging, VisEn began selling a pre-commercial version of its instrument and its line of optical probe products in the first half of 2005. Underscoring the quantitative power and broad utility of the technology, VisEn's customers, collaborators and company scientists will present a total of 18 abstracts at the SMI meeting, including those on applications in cancer drug testing, bone remodeling and cardiovascular disease.

15/9/05
  1. BRUSSELS, Belgium & OR-AKIVA, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 14, 2005--Deep Breeze Ltd., manufacturer of the VRI(XP)(TM) system, announced that it has received a CE mark, declaring the system "safe and effective" and allowing the company to market the technology to physicians in European Union countries. Physicians and patients throughout Europe now have access to one of the most innovative technologies in medicine. Vibration Response Imaging (VRI) provides physicians with a dynamic image of the lungs, delivering both structural and functional information to aid in assessing lung condition. "The VRI(XP) system adds a new dimension to interventional pulmonology and evaluation of patients with lung transplants," said Professor Mordechai R. Kramer of Petah-Tikva, Israel. "We will be able to assess lung function much more effectively and non-invasively". Professor Kramer is performing clinical trials at the Pulmonary Institute, Rabin Medical Center affiliated to Sackler School of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University. The VRI(XP)(TM) system received the CE mark after an audit, which found the device safe and effective to use, and approved it as a lung diagnostic device. "We are introducing a new imaging technology for the human body, which is radiation-free and organ oriented. Unlike MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), X-ray or Ultrasound, VRI utilizes passive vibration energy that is naturally created in organs to produce a dynamic image of the organ. The development of the first VRI for the lungs was based on the finding that the lung vibration energy directly correlates to the lung airflow. Vibration Response Imaging displays for the first time a dynamic image of the lungs as they function," said Igal Kushnir, MD, CEO and founder of Deep Breeze Ltd. that is based in Or-Akiva, Israel. "The VRI(XP) images expand the physician's understanding of the condition of the lungs hence improving patient management and outcome".

21/9/05
  1. Hackensack Medical & Molecular Imaging today announced the installation of the new state-of-the-art biograph(TM)16 Hi-Rez diagnostic imaging system, from Siemens Medical Systems, Inc. The biograph(TM)16 Hi-Rez combines the premier technology from PET and CT to create an evolutionary new diagnostic imaging system. As the patient is transported through the biograph 16, the anatomically detailed information obtained from a CT scan is merged with the biological function recorded by the PET scanner to form not merely a photograph, but a biograph(TM) 16 - an image that records living tissues and life processes. The anatomical and biological information obtained from the biograph(TM) 16 permits accurate tumor detection and localization for a variety of cancers, including melanoma, lymphoma, lung, colorectal, head and neck, and ovarian cancers. Other applications include reducing biopsy sampling errors, improvement of therapy planning, and assessment of response to treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy.

24/9/05
  1. COLUMBUS, Ohio, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- PHIS, Inc. announced today that two peer-reviewed international journals, Kybernetes and Functional Diagnostics, published articles that may signal the beginning of a new era in medical imaging. According to an accompanying commentary by A. J. Tchizhov, M.D., "I am firmly convinced that most departments of functional diagnostics will widely use such methods of non-invasive diagnostics in the near future." The discoveries announced in the two papers ("Secondary holodiffractional radiation of biological systems" in Kybernetics, Vol. 5, 2005 and "Integrative functional system of living systems" in Functional Diagnostics, Vol. 1, 2005)were made by Marina Shaduri, Ph.D., founder of the Bioholography Center and senior researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biological Physics of the Georgian Academy of Sciences. Shaduri, along with her late partner Dr. George Tshitshinadze, proved it is possible to acquire diagnostic-quality visual information about a living organism's structure and disease processes via painless body surface assessments. They claim that living organisms function like a dynamic three-dimensional hologram -- called a "biohologram." Over eight thousand patients have been diagnosed using the patented method called BEO-Tomography. Subsequent verification was performed in four thousand cases, demonstrating the method's high sensitivity, particularly, in detecting cancer (greater than 85% accuracy). BEO-Tomography's non-invasive and benign nature makes it a safe diagnostic alternative for adults, children, and animals. With this technology, pathologic areas are displayed on a larger scale while the normally functioning organs are not as readily discernable on the fingertips' coronas. This unique feature of living systems enables the acquisition of precise images of extremely small tumors, e.g., 2 mm in diameter, with high resolution. The development of more sophisticated devices and software will improve the quality of visualization, thus providing replicas of microscopic structures and detection of infectious diseases. BEO-tomography (BEO- biological emission and optical radiation) implies the induction of objects' emission by exposing them to the electromagnetic field of high frequency (1000 Herz, 17 kV). Authors have elaborated new mode of operating standard device "GDV-Camera" that allowed them to acquire relatively stable and reliable results while studying variable emission of dynamic biological systems.It is the first method that makes possible to decipher the information encoded in radiation of living organisms. Usage of plastic membranes placed between the electrode's glass and exposed objects enabled authors to achieve high reproducibility of radiation coronas' images
26/9/05
Biomedical Imaging Put to Work
1) Imaging Is the Interface to Vew the Human Machine
Posted: September 26th, 2005 12:00 PM EDT
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A biomedical image should help diagnose, monitor, guide and describe a patient's condition.
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'We are biological machines, and imaging provides a way to see how these machines work.' -Roderic Pettigrew


Modern biomedical images are often attention grabbers. They can appear as art when various fluorescent markers create a pattern of color inside cells. Scientists today, however, demand more than pretty pictures. Images must work. A biomedical image should diagnose a disease, describe a biochemical pathway, monitor the impact of a treatment, or guide a procedure.
Roderic Pettigrew, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (Bethesda, MD), says that imaging has value on several levels. Perhaps the most obvious value is the ability to diagnose a disease without invading the body. "There is a tremendous shift in the whole healthcare paradigm," Pettigrew says, "from hunting down disease and treating it to forecasting disease and preventing it."
To predict the future, imaging must surpass simple observation. Biomedical scientists now use imaging to understand structure and function and how the two interact. "We are biological machines," says Pettigrew, "and imaging provides a way to see how these machines work."
From the Heart
David Piwnica-Worms, director of the Molecular Imaging Center at Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis), does imaging research on molecular functions. His work uses Tc-99m-Sestamibi (Cardiolite), a radioactive compound from Bristol-Myers Squibb (New York) that is used to image blood flow in the heart. This fat-loving compound diffuses across cell membranes and accumulates in the mitochondria in heart cells. At the whole-tissue level, the retained radiopharmaceutical generates a snapshot of blood flow to different regions of the heart.
Cancer cells also have lots of mitochondria, and Cardiolite, an imaging agent, gets in them, too. In some cancer cells, though, a membrane transporter known as P-glycoprotein pumps chemotherapy agents out of the cell. In cells with this protein, entire families of chemotherapy agents fail. P-glycoprotein also recognizes Cardiolite, and pumps it out of the cancerous cell. With Cardiolite, Piwnica-Worms can noninvasively examine cancer cells in patients using gamma cameras and see if they resist chemotherapy by way of the P-glycoprotein. "This shows if a certain cancer is multi-drug resistant," says Piwnica-Worms. "If it is, then a different agent is needed to fight it."
Harmonic Visualization
In some cases, getting the best view demands new techniques. For example, scientists demonstrated second harmonic imaging microscopy (SHIM) more than 25 years ago, but it is just now being demonstrated as a practical technique for high-resolution imaging of cell and tissue structure and physiology. In essence, this technique relies on intense laser illumination that interacts with a highly ordered material, such as biomolecular arrays. The light comes out with half the wavelength of the laser light, but with twice the energy.
Leslie Loew, director of the Center for Biomedical Imaging Technology (CBIT) at the University of Connecticut Health Center (Farmington, CT) says that SHIM can use dye molecules that label parts of the cell. "This provides physiological output with 3-D, high-resolution accuracy," says Loew. In addition, SHIM may need no dye at all, because some biological structures — including actomyosin complexes — produce second harmonic signals. "That way, a native specimen can be used without dyes that might interfere with natural processes," he adds. His colleagues at CBIT use this approach to study muscle-related diseases.
Many other diseases may also be diagnosed with advanced imaging. At UCLA's Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, Arthur Toga and Rico Magsipoc combine optics and computers to explore brain development and disease. Toga says, "We create multi-modal representations for relationships between observations. We want to know the relationship between changes in a particular area of the brain relative to functional activity." Combining data from various imaging modalities and watching changes over time creates data sets that are 4 gigabytes (GB) on average and can reach 100 GB.
To handle the data, Toga and Magsipoc turned to Silicon Graphics' (Mountain View, CA) Onyx systems. "We need a combination of a broad infrastructure and tailored hardware that enables rapid interactions with complex visualization," says Toga. "The Silicon Graphics platform was the only solution for us to achieve that."
The large data sets demand powerful ways to move and archive data. Magsipoc says, "We can move 400 to 500 megabytes per second." With so much computing power, these scientists can follow brain changes associated with years of Alzheimer's disease or watch a child's brain develop. Toga adds, "We knew that disease processes impacted specific areas of the brain, but now we have specific maps of this and can see it in a way that we never could in the past."
Out With The Eyepiece
Despite revolutionary advances in optical imaging, some scientists still see the traditional microscope as nothing more than a complicated magnifying glass. Nikon Instruments (Melville, NY) is changing this perception with the COOLSCOPE that allows users to load a slide and display an image on a monitor or projector.
Stan Schwartz, Nikon's vice president, microscopy, says, "COOLSCOPE is tailored to scientific applications that rely on using stained slides for imaging. Scientific disciplines such as pathology, histology, anatomy and drug discovery have already benefited from simplified image capture and analysis benefits." With a click of a mouse, it focuses automatically on an image and adjusts the aperture and brightness. Nikon is teaming with Bacus Laboratories (Lombard, IL) so that images from the COOLSCOPE hop on the Internet where the pieces can be reassembled with Bacus' WebSlide software.
Loew and his colleagues also marry images and computing with their Virtual Cell, which is available online (www.nrcam.uchc.edu). "We take quantitative data from microscopy and build mathematical models of cellular processes and functions," says Loew. This lets scientists do virtual experiments. "You can dig into fundamental cellular mechanisms," he adds. "We can ask questions such as: 'What happens if a particular part of a system is broken or if we intervene with a particular drug?'"
In many cases, biomedical scientists want the closest possible look at living cells. In the past, the closest look came from electron microscopy, but that required using dead samples. Today, though, live cells can be imaged with some forms of scanning electron microscopy, such as the extended-pressure EVO Series of Scanning Electron Microscopes from Carl Zeiss (Oberkochen, Germany). Watching live cells up close could be the future of biomedical imaging.
Taking Aim At Cancer
As a doctoral student at Stanford University, Joshua Jones wanted a better way to measure the timing of cell division. With conventional methods, it takes weeks or even months to get enough data to see if cells are dividing faster, slower or about normally. During cell division, or mitosis, the nuclear membrane breaks down. So, Jones took a fluorescent protein and attached it to a peptide that grabs membrane. When a cell is not dividing, Jones' fluorescent protein is located in the nucleus deep in the cell. During mitosis, the nuclear membrane breaks down and releases the fluorescent protein to the cellular membrane, where it can fluoresce. "It's like a light switch," Jones says, "that turns on during mitosis and is off at all other times."
With this technique, Jones and his colleagues can track the mitotic rate of up to 100 cells in about five hours. Because cancerous cells divide rapidly, Jones can use this technique to see which drugs might slow down division in cancerous cells. "This technique will now, for the first time, enable one to screen libraries of compounds for their effects on mitotic timing," Jones says.
Mitotic changes could be associated with cancer, and other imaging techniques target this disease. In the June 2005 issue of Nature Medicine, Mark Stroh and his colleagues at the E.L. Steele Laboratory for Tumor Biology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, reported using quantum dots — fluorescent nanocrystals — to distinguish cancerous from healthy cells in a solid tumor. These investigators also used the quantum dots to see what size particles could get inside the tumor. This work could help the scientists better understand the basic biology of a tumor and what kind of therapeutics could be delivered to a tumor's inner region.
Today's scientists see more than a pretty picture in biomedical images. Instead, they see how diseases develop and how they can battle them.

2) Bruker BioSpin MRI introduces its new and revolutionary MRI system, the Avance II, at the European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology's 22nd annual meeting. Its scalable receiver and transmitter architecture will enable new MRI applications in preclinical research and molecular imaging. A four-fold increase in digital resolution results in an unmatched dynamic range which, in combination with multi-array RF coil technologies, raises signal-to-noise ratios to 'unsurpassed' levels.
An order of magnitude increase in digital receiver bandwidth speeds up acquisition times and provides MRI image quality that could previously not be obtained.
Bruker BioSpin pioneered the first-generation digital receiver technology in the 1990s as part of its NMR digitalisation initiative with the introduction of the novel Avance platform.
For the first time, the Avance featured innovative digital receiver technology for over-sampling, digital filtering and digital quadrature detection, now a standard in MRI technology.
In vivo researchers using the new Avance II will benefit from compelling performance advantages in all areas of MRI and MRS.
A scalable receiver architecture which supports phased array and parallel imaging technology with state-of-the art applications (such as and Grappa).
The scalable multi- transmitter architecture allows Transmit Sense technology for fast 2D excitation and homogeneous RF penetration even at ultra-high magnetic fields.
The Avance II architecture allows further expansion of channels in the future.
A four-fold higher digital resolution and high dynamic range preamplifiers provide optimum detection sensitivity of all k-space regions, resulting in superb contrast and SNR in 3D imaging.
An order of magnitude increase in digital filtering bandwidth up to 5MHz with faster digitisation rates and faster over-sampling shortens acquisition times and reduces geometric image distortions and susceptibility effects (such as in single-shot EPI).
'For in vivo MRI and MRS, the new Avance II, with its scalable receive and transmit channel architecture, underlines our continuing commitment to providing our customers with the most advanced imaging technology,' commented Bernd Gewiese, managing director of Bruker BioSpin MRI.
'New developments such as single-shot EPI, Grappa and Transmit Sense benefit from our new Avance II technology and lead to high quality images which clearly surpass those of previous generation MRI systems'.
The Avance II MRI spectrometer is available for immediate delivery.
Bruker BioSpin MRI is a member of the global Bruker BioSpin group which designs, manufactures and distributes enabling life science and analytical research tools based on magnetic resonance core technology.
Bruker BioSpin technology platforms include NMR, EPR, MRI, as well as superconducting magnets and superconducting wire

29/9/05
  1. (I-Newswire) - Boston ( Massachusetts ), Paris ( France ), September 28th 2005 – MAUNA KEA TECHNOLOGIES, specialized in the development of in vivo cellular imaging for biomedical and medical applications, announced today that it received a 510 k approval from FDA to market the Cellvizio-GI ( known previously as the F400 system ). Designed to be used in conjunction with conventional video-endoscopes, this new advanced confocal laser imaging system allows real-time microscopic observations of tissues in the gastrointestinal tract. Already recognized as a leader in the field of in vivo cellular and molecular imaging for research applications, MAUNA KEA TECHNOLOGIES demonstrates today the versatility of its fibered confocal technology. This proprietary technology, which combines high-precision optics and advanced image processing, is the only one capable of real time microscopic imaging with a miniaturized fibered probe, compatible with every GI endoscope. In its research avatar, the Cell~vizio, this technology is used daily by leading research institutions worldwide in various fields of applications: neuroscience, cancer research, pharmacology, stem cell research, gene therapy. About MAUNA KEA TECHNOLOGIESFounded in 2000 and run by Sacha LOISEAU and Benjamin ABRAT, MAUNA KEA TECHNOLOGIES is already recognized as a leader in the field of in vivo cellular imaging for biomedical applications. MAUNA KEA TECHNOLOGIES has developed the world’s smallest microscope that is compatible with observations either on living animals for research applications or on patients for medical applications. Founded at the crossroads of optics, biology, medicine and image processing, the company has developed a unique and proprietary core technology: “Fibered Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy” or “Catheter-based Confocal Microscopy”. The technology is protected by a strong portfolio of patents and is the fruit of a multidisciplinary approach. http://www.maunakeatech.com/

30/9/05
1) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques can provide real-time measurements of volume in a fetal heart, and may better enable physicians to plan care for infants with heart defects, according to a new study. By producing three-dimensional measurements, functional MRIs may represent an advance over the current technology, fetal echocardiography.
“With echocardiography, the heart looks like a shadow. It looks more like a heart with real-time MRI, with excellent soft tissue contrast,” said pediatric cardiologist Mark A. Fogel, M.D., director of Cardiac MRI at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. A research team led by Dr. Fogel reported preliminary findings based on studies on two fetuses in the September/October 2005 issue of Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy. It was the first example of functional MRI used for cardiac imaging in fetuses.

11/10/05
1) Electrical Engineer Works on Personalizing Medical Treatment: Virginia Tech’s Yue (Joseph) Wang, who currently leads a $5.5 million research effort to improve the outcome for breast cancer patients, dreams of a more personalized medicine in which doctors can precisely determine how a patient’s cancer will behave. Then, based on the expected outcomes the physician can target a precise treatment plan.
Researchers are now studying disease at molecular levels and need the analytical skills of engineers to aid in both discovery and understanding of biological systems, Wang, a member of the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, said.
“Personalized medicine requires a quantitative-plus-molecular equation, in which intelligent computing tools can play a major role. However, many difficulties need to be overcome before a molecular signature-based computer-aided diagnosis can be developed. Yet, prognosis and monitoring therapy are all among our future tasks,” he said.
“We are working with physicians to analyze cancer data from all levels: the entire body, the cellular, the molecular, and the genetic,” he said. “We are seeking to understand how disease starts, how it progresses, and which biomarkers can be used for therapeutic purposes,” he explained “Not all molecules in the body are responsible for a disease; only a certain subset are. If we can accurately identify the responsible molecules and determine appropriate biomarkers, we can develop rational treatments.”
He stressed that, since cancer progression is a process of acquisition of multiple and alternative mutations, molecular imaging must be able to image multiple biomarkers.
In studying any single disease, thousands of genes and proteins that interact with each other are studied and tested. Proteins, the basic building blocks of cells, are also involved in cellular function and control. A single cell can contain one billion molecules capable of interacting with each other. These numbers produce “vast amounts of data that need to be interpreted and analyzed so that the components involved with diseases can be isolated and identified,” Wang explains.
This data processing and manipulation typically falls under the computational bioinformatics field, where a number of computational engineers and computer scientists are now working.
Another, newer field, called systems biology or systems biomedicine, is emerging. It requires modeling and systems engineering skills based on a solid mathematical and theoretical background, Wang said. The completion of the human genome project, in which every gene in the human body was identified and mapped, has provided a foundation for the field. A frequently used metaphor is that the genome project provided a location map, but the roads and traffic patterns remain unknown.
Molecular data are typically obtained from gene microarrays, which are silicon chips imprinted with DNA and its thousands of genes. The microarrays get ‘washed’ with a solution carrying fluorescent messenger RNA from the biopsied tissue sample of a cancer patient. The RNA molecules then attach to their corresponding DNA genes. The more RNA segments that attach to a gene, the more that gene will glow or fluoresce, which is called gene expression. The expression can then be measured and analyzed.
Wang’s team is also working with similar technology involving protein microarrays to study cancer at an even more precise level. The area of study, called proteomics, is expected to help researchers better study the function and control of the molecules involved.
Both technologies yield “vast amounts of data,” Wang explained. His team is developing tools that create analysis algorithms so that the true biological effects can be studied. They are also developing, optimizing, and validating neural network classifiers so that cancer can be more accurately classified and therapy can be personally tailored for optimal response.
“This is important with diseases that are caused not by a single factor, but by multiple factors. Cancer, for example, can be caused by genetic predisposition, with contributing factors, such as diet, environment, and alcohol consumption. Type 2 diabetes requires a systems approach, as it is caused almost entirely by multiple social factors, including diet and lack of exercise.”
Wang, based at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia campus, also serves as an adjunct professor of radiology at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. He works with teams that include biologists and physicians from Georgetown University, Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, the National Institutes of Health, and the Children’s National Medical Center. He is a member of the Virginia Tech – Wake Forest University School of Biomedical Engineering and Science.
In February, Wang was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) for his contributions to biomedical informatics. AIMBE Fellows represent only two percent of the researchers active in medical and biological engineering

13/10/05
  1. Penn researchers discover the powerful tool of simultaneous fMRI and PET imaging: Clinical researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS) are the first to combine fMRI and PET scanning in radiology, creating a way to compare different measurements of the brain's function concurrently. This analysis could lead to better diagnosis and treatment in patients suffering from brain disorders, like Alzheimer's disease. "By using these two established methods, we now have an integrated way to look at the brain's functions," explained Andrew Newberg, MD, a radiologist in nuclear medicine at UPHS and lead author on this clinical study. "We can now get a more comprehensive view of what's happening in the brain at a particular time, than we've ever been able to do before. We can look at more diseases and more activation states." The work combines the functional imaging of fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), which captures the blood flow in the brain, and PET scanning (positron emission tomography), which looks at the glucose metabolism in the brain. "Normally, these two measures are coupled, or paired together. The more metabolism you have, the more blood flow," adds Newberg. "But there are times the two don't match up with each other like with stroke, seizure disorders, or neurodegenerative disorders. That's what led us to this new technique so that we can explore many different aspects of the brain's function." So how does this new simultaneous imaging approach actually work? Radiologists inject a patient with radioactive material used for a PET scan WHILE the patient is already inside an fMRI scanner. During the time that material is being taken up in the brain, radiologists are acquiring the fMRI image. Then, when that is complete, radiologists take the patient immediately to the PET scanner, to retrieve the PET image. "We have both machines available to us and have now put them together in a way that works," adds Newberg. "We can take the results of the simultaneous fMRI and PET scans and come up with two separate results and compare them for a new look at the brain. Using this technique, you capture the exact same moment in the brain with both scans. It will help to show us what the relationship is between metabolism and blood flow. Do those two really match up in large majority of conditions?" Newberg said one goal of this new simultaneous fMRI-PET scan is to better understand the effect of certain medications on the brain and body. The clinical research for this study has been conducted through the PET Center at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and through the Center for Functional Neuroimaging (CFN), known for its excellence in multi-disciplinary brain imaging. The study will also be published in the November 1st issue of NeuroImage.

  2. Elekta's Image Guided Treatment Solutions Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT) is the next generation in radiation oncology treatment accuracy, giving clinicians the ability to image a patient at the point of treatment and make corrections to better target a tumor and avoid surrounding healthy tissue. Elekta was the first company to develop IGRT and the first to bring it to market, and remains the world leader in this next generation of treatment accuracy. Elekta's IGRT solution, known as Elekta Synergy(R), is a clinically proven digital linear accelerator being used in oncology centers worldwide in the fight against cancer. Clinicians using Elekta Synergy(R) in conjunction with X-ray Volume Imaging (XVI) realize the image quality and soft tissue detail necessary to achieve optimum clinical results. One concern that has been raised is the ability to treat patients as quickly with this advanced technology as with previous therapies. Because reconstruction of large volumetric images is almost instantaneous, Elekta's IGRT requires only minimal changes to existing treatment practice and treatment schedules. "Elekta Synergy(R) is part of a continuous innovation in radiation therapy that is especially relevant in Canada. Canadian healthcare places a high value on patient throughput, cost efficiency and the quality of treatment provided," says Mark Symons, General Manager for Elekta Canada. "By improving targeting, with minimal extra overhead, Elekta Synergy(R) offers the potential to improve therapeutic ratios and reduce the number of treatment fractions." With more than 4,000 clinical images from 20 installations, and more than 50 systems scheduled to be installed within the next few months, Elekta's system has proven its clinical effectiveness and is tantalizing clinicians with its future potential. About Elekta: Elekta is an international medical-technology group, providing meaningful clinical solutions, comprehensive information systems and services for improved cancer care and management of brain disorders. All of Elekta's solutions employ non-invasive or minimally invasive techniques and are therefore clinically effective, gentle on the patient and cost-effective. Clinical solutions include Leksell Gamma Knife(R) for non-invasive treatment of brain disorders and Elekta Synergy(R) for image guided radiation therapy (IGRT). Following the acquisition of IMPAC Medical Systems Inc. in April 2005, the Elekta Group became the world's largest supplier of oncology software. Elekta's systems and solutions are used in over 3,000 hospitals around the world to treat cancer and to manage clinical operations as well as to diagnose and treat brain disorders, including tumors, vascular malformations and functional disorders. With approximately 1,700 employees, Elekta's corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange under the ticker EKTAb.

  3. Three-Dimensional Biophotonic Imaging: The IVIS 3D biophotonic imaging system provides full three-dimensional diffuse tomographic analysis of bioluminescent light sources in living animals as well as two-dimensional multi-view fluorescent imaging capabilities. The system captures and processes numerous views/orientations taken around the mouse to provide researchers with better spatial representations of the light sources (e.g., cancer metastases, inflammatory markers). It is designed to enable researchers to more accurately pinpoint where and when a drug candidate has an effect on or is affected by a normal or disease process. The detailed surface topography measurements provided by the IVIS 3D Imaging System are ideal for co-registering with other modalities such as CT and MRI. Non-invasive imaging systems enable scientists to visualize, track and understand biological processes in living animals, in real time. The technology incorporates luciferase, the enzyme that makes fireflies and some bacteria glow, into living animals. Illuminating biological processes allows real-time visual exploration and analysis of gene expression, cellular pathways, drug/target interactions and the mechanism of action of drugs.

  4. Digital In Vivo Molecular Imaging: KODAK Image Station In-Vivo FX system, available immediately, features cooled CCD camera technology and selectable multi-wavelength illumination for quantitative imaging of luminescent, fluorescent, and radiographic labeled biomolecules in vivo. The system provides an integrated digital x-ray imaging source and a phosphor based radiographic imaging screen enabling digital radiography. Precise co-registering of anatomical x-rays of tissues, organs and whole animals with near-IR, isotopic or luminescent optical imaging modalities allow a significant improvement in anatomical localization of molecular signals. With true 16-bit imaging performance, 4-million pixel resolution, 10× optical zoom, and comprehensive image analysis capability, the new Image Station In-Vivo imaging systems accommodate a wide range of labels and sample formats. The KODAK Animal Management Center provides an enclosed, animal friendly environment for multi-modal imaging of up to four mice simultaneously.

14/10/05
  1. Harvard Wins $20M Cancer Grant: The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has awarded Harvard and MIT a five-year, $20 million grant to establish a center geared toward applying nanotechnology to cancer research. The MIT-Harvard Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence (CCNE) will be one of seven centers across the nation, the NCI announced on Oct. 3. Ralph Weissleder, a professor of radiology at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and director of the Center for Molecular Imaging Research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and Robert Langer, an Institute Professor in MIT’s Department of Chemical Engineering, will head the new center. “We’re hoping to use new nanotechnology—things that have been developed for cell phones and computers—for medical applications, especially in the use of cancer prevention. In particular, we’d like to use the technology for the earlier detection, more efficient treatment, and more advanced monitoring of cancer or cancer patients,” Weissleder said. The CCNEs are multi-institutional hubs that are focused on integrating nanotechnology—the development and engineering of devices so small that they are measured on a molecular level—into cancer research. They were established as part of the NCI Alliance for Nanotechnology in Cancer, an initiative created by the NCI to promote cancer-related nanotechnological research and its increased use in clinical practice.

  2. Analysts are studying last week's acquisition by Invitrogen of Quantum Dot Corp., the nanotech startup that laid claim to all key life-science applications for quantum dots, trying to guess the sale amount and what it might mean for the industry. Quantum dots are semiconductor crystals only nanometers or billionths of a meter wide. They fluoresce brightly when they absorb even minuscule amounts of light. Scientists can engineer the specific colors of light that quantum dots absorb or emit with extraordinary precision by adjusting their size and makeup. For instance, a cadmium-selenide quantum dot more than 6 nanometers in diameter emits red light, while one less than 3 nanometers wide glows green. Quantum dots "represent the next generation of imaging," said Invitrogen spokesman Eric Endicott. They could help scientists image the behavior of cells and organs to a level of detail never before seen in the $500 million worldwide market for biological-detection agents. Conventional fluorescent dyes used in the life sciences to help researchers monitor how cells and organs grow and develop normally lose their ability to emit light within seconds. Quantum dots, on the other hand, last far longer, helping investigators to monitor cells and organs in diseased and healthy conditions on a molecular scale in real time. Quantum Dot "likely spent more money and time getting its gene-expression-analysis system to market than backers felt comfortable with, and ran out of money," Nordan said. Invitrogen also acquired the BioPixels arm of BioCrystal, in Westerville, Ohio, and announced an agreement with Georgia Tech Research Corp. in Atlanta for exclusive license to its nanocluster technology. Biopixels provide novel coatings and metal alloys for quantum dots, while nanoclusters are composed of noble metals such as gold or silver that offer up to 10 times the fluorescence of quantum dots.

15/10/05
  1. Boston Life Sciences, Inc. (BLSI) is engaged in the research and clinical development of diagnostic and therapeutic products for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. ALTROPANE molecular imaging agent is in Phase III clinical trials for the diagnosis of Parkinsonian Syndrome (PS) and a Phase II clinical trial for the diagnosis of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The Company's research and pre-clinical CNS programs include Inosine for the treatment of stroke, O-1369 for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and FLUORATEC(TM), a second generation molecular imaging agent, for PS and ADHD. BLSI's current research collaborations include Harvard Medical School, Children's Hospital of Boston and the University of Massachusetts-Worcester. The foregoing release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding Boston Life Sciences' expectations, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by terminology such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "is planned," "may," "should," "will," "will enable," "would be expected," "look forward," "may provide," "would" or similar terms, variations of such terms or the negative of those terms. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors including those risks, uncertainties and factors referred to in the Company's Quarterly Report on form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2005, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the section "Risk Factors," as well as other documents that may be filed by Boston Life Sciences from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. As a result of such risks, uncertainties and factors, the Company's actual results may differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements discussed in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained herein. Boston Life Sciences, Inc. is providing the information in this press release as of this date and does not undertakes any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

18/10/05
  1. Integrating Biology, Advancing Oncology Care: Siemens Leads the Way at ASTRO 2005; Siemens Exhibit and Presentations Put Oncology Workflow Solutions, Proven Outcomes in the Spotlight: Siemens Medical Solutions demonstrates its commitment to radiation oncology at the American Society of Therapeutic Radiology (ASTRO) meeting, held October 16 to 19 in Denver. Building upon last year's successful presence at ASTRO, the company is highlighting its Oncology Workflow Solutions and Proven Outcomes, which support the continuum of oncology care. In addition, visitors to Siemens' booth #1617 are invited to participate in a series of live presentations exploring Siemens' multidisciplinary imaging and therapy approach to oncology. "With more than one million new cancer diagnoses expected this year, the need for advanced therapies to treat the disease faster, safer, and more precisely is becoming increasingly important," said Ajit Singh, president, Oncology Care Systems Group, Siemens Medical Solutions. "Oncology care is progressing rapidly toward individualized treatment through the advent of molecular medicine, as we can now integrate biological information. Siemens combines cutting-edge imaging, treatment delivery, and information technologies that enable clinicians to better understand the disease and to tailor each treatment to each patient's unique needs." The marriage of molecular imaging and oncology is enabling true Biology-Guided Radiation Therapy(TM) (BGRT), the next step in Adaptive Radiation Therapy (ART). To achieve this, Siemens is developing a range of solutions that incorporate feedback at critical points in oncology management processes. Siemens also is actively investing in translational preclinical technologies that will accelerate the introduction of new paradigms of molecular imaging from the laboratory to the clinic. "We are prepared for the introduction of genomic and proteomic tools that will finally complete the association of the individual to the disease," added Singh. "This will in turn enable the best possible care for each patient." At ASTRO 2005, Siemens will showcase its broad range of technologies and solutions that drive this forward-thinking, integrated approach to oncology. Innovations highlighted this year include: -- MVision(TM)*, Siemens' signature megavoltage cone beam (MVCB)* solution, which will provide CT-based, three-dimensional (3D) image acquisition. The system will be a volumetric, versatile, and cost-effective solution for efficient, automatic online targeting of the area to be treated. An ideal way to visualize soft tissue contrast inside the patient, MVCB will provide additional information for correct patient positioning prior to treatment. MVision will be available as an enhancement on the PRIMUS, ONCOR Impression and Avant-Garde linear accelerators. -- ONCOR(R) Expression*, the newest member of the ONCOR family of linear accelerators, comes standard with MVision and is designed to deliver advanced, high-quality, radiation therapy treatments in a streamlined workflow environment. The system incorporates Siemens' patented OPTIBEAM(TM) IMRT (Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy), an optimized technique for IMRT delivery that uses best-in-class verification to safely provide treatments with speed and accuracy. -- 160 Multileaf Collimator (MLC)** leaf sequencing for efficient and improved delivery of treatment plans and high-speed optimization of beam intensities. As with the 3-D MLC and OPTIFOCUS(TM) MLC, the 160 MLC utilizes the unique integrated control system that empowers all Siemens linear accelerators and allows the MLC handling to be completely seamless. -- ARTISTE(TM)*** with In-line(TM) kilovoltage (kV) imaging is optimized for Image Guided Radiation Therapy (IGRT), Volume Guided Radiation Therapy(TM) (VGRT), Structure Guided Radiation Therapy(TM) (SGRT), and Dose Guided Radiation Therapy(TM) (DGRT). ARTISTE will offer both kV and megavoltage (MV) imaging capabilities by providing a separate radiation source and imaging panel for each energy range. The system features real-time correlation of target and delivery, as well as synchronized image and dose measurement. In addition, it provides optimized patient clearance via the most open design available. Throughout ASTRO 2005, Siemens will host live product demonstrations and presentations showcasing these latest advances in oncology care, including sessions on dosimetry, Adaptive Targeting, and workflow and data management with COHERENCE Oncology Workspaces; the impact of particle therapy and the integration of biology in oncology; and ART, including MVCB imaging. Considered the future of radiation oncology, ART combines the most advanced imaging and therapy technologies to allow clinicians to better visualize the changing location, shape, and size of tumors and adapt each treatment accordingly. Siemens will demonstrate its continued advances in ART solutions through its work with international collaborators at the ART Forum, held Saturday, October 15 at 11:30 a.m. in the Grand Ballroom II at the Adams Mark Hotel in Denver. The forum will bring together radiotherapy leaders from the University of California San Francisco, Fox Chase Cancer Center, and the University of Heidelberg for a presentation and panel discussion. Siemens Medical Solutions of Siemens AG (NYSE:SI) with headquarters in Malvern, Pennsylvania and Erlangen, Germany, is one of the largest suppliers to the healthcare industry in the world. The company is known for bringing together innovative medical technologies, healthcare information systems, management consulting, and support services, to help customers achieve tangible, sustainable, clinical and financial outcomes. Employing approximately 31,000 people worldwide and operating in more than 120 countries, Siemens Medical Solutions reported sales of 7.07 billion EUR, orders of 8.12 billion EUR and group profit of 1.05 billion EUR for fiscal 2004. More information can be obtained by visiting http://www.usa.siemens.com/medical-pressroom