ABSTRACT
Positron emission tomography (PET) has the potential for in vivo imaging of drug pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamic endpoints, molecular pathways, and gene expression. Three main factors dictate the spatial resolution that can be achieved with PET: the positron range, annihilation noncollinearity and detector size and efficiency. PET has the potential to evaluate the effect of a drug in vivo in animal studies or the human body by measuring metabolic or hemodynamic responses in the tissue in question. Human studies with minute amounts of the labeled pharmacological compound, known as PET microdosing, can be performed, which can avoid some uncertainties that arise with respect to tissue pharmacokinetics from animal models and is hoped to reduce the need for studies on animals in the future. Short-lived proton-rich isotopes for PET research facilities are manufactured on-site with a cyclotron, a machine used for accelerating charged particles to high speeds.
