ABSTRACT
While cellular therapies have proven to be a promising approach for repairing complex physiological defects, assessing the success of these approaches in vivo has been challenging. This inherent dif‹culty is derived from the necessity to visualize the cellular therapies and functional responses of the affected tissues. In the case of stem cell therapy, this is of critical importance since the establishment of ef‹cacy requires de‹ning the traf‹cking of the cells in vivo, demonstrating their integration into the intended tissue, and determining their survival or fate. For stem cells expanded and differentiated ex vivo, it is imperative to assess whether the implanted cells retain the ability to migrate to the intended tissue and subsequently mature and func-
CONTENTS
18.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 317 18.1.1 Multimodal Imaging ..................................................................... 318 18.1.2 Cell Labeling by Direct and Indirect Methods.......................... 319
18.2 Hybrid Imaging Systems and Contrast Media ...................................... 319 18.2.1 PET/CT and SPECT/CT Systems ................................................. 321 18.2.2 PET/MRI Systems .......................................................................... 321
18.3 Image Fusion Platforms and Contrast Media ........................................ 322 18.3.1 MRI and Optical Imaging ............................................................ 323 18.3.2 19F and 1H MRI ............................................................................... 324
18.4 Indirect Labeling Platforms ..................................................................... 325 18.5 Design of Intelligent Probes ..................................................................... 328
18.5.1 Probes Responsive to Microenvironment Stimuli .................... 328 18.5.2 Probes Responsive to External Triggers ..................................... 328 18.5.3 Probes to Visualize Therapeutic Delivery .................................. 329
18.6 Conclusions ................................................................................................. 329 References .............................................................................................................330
