OPTICAL IMAGING

Service Description

Small animal pre-clinical imaging is a vital tool in biomedical research that allows biological processes and potential medicines to be studied in animal models using non-invasive methods. While MRI and PET/SPECT represent the gold standard for pre-clinical and translational studies, the use of fluorescent and bioluminescent techniques with small animal disease models has become increasingly important over recent years and can provide unmatched specificity and sensitivity with appropriate experimental design.

Equipment

  • Bruker In-Vivo Xtreme Multimodal Imaging System
    • High sensitivity CCD camera suitable for bioluminescence
    • Illumination and filters compatible with a wide range of visible and NIR fluorescence markers (Ex. 410 – 760 nm / Em430 – 850 nm)
    • Imaging chamber for up to five mice at a time with integrated anesthesia and temperature control
    • Integrated high-resolution X-ray imaging to provide contextual information
    • Multimodal Animal Rotation System (MARS) – enables automated image acquisition at different angles reducing positional variability and aiding the quantification of signal intensities
    • Multimodal Animal Transport System (MATS) – facilitates multimodal imaging between different imaging platforms

Applications

  • Bioimaging of labeled cells/tissues using fluorescence or bioluminescencee
  • Monitoring of Drug Delivery and Targeting
  • Pharmacodynamic studies
  • Imaging and validating new Probes and Biomarkers

Services Offered

  • Experimental design advice and project plan consulting
  • Phantom-based experimental assessment of labeling strategies
  • Real-time bioimaging of labeled cells or pharmacological agents during and immediately after intravenous injection
  • Medium-term (1-14 days) biodistribution studies of fluorescently-labeled agents over days or weeks with ex-vivo validation
  • Design custom spectral unmixing profiles to reduce autofluorescence or crosstalk between overlapping markers
  • Establishment of disease models using commercial molecular imaging reagents
  • Close integration with other BIONAND units for associated animal handling and histology services

Technical staff

FEIJOO CUARESMA, MÓNICA

Técnico de laboratorio
mfeijoo@ibima.eu

CARAYOL GORDILLO, MARTA

Técnico de laboratorio
mcarayol@ibima.eu