Molecular imaging
Clinically, imaging plays a pivotal role in diagnosis and staging of diseases and as a tool for spatial and temporal guidance of therapies. An example for the latter is the use of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) under MR guidance (MR-HIFU). In a preclinical research setting, imaging is used as a tool to characterize e.g. disease models and biological processes often in combination with specific contrast agents and tracers. For preclinical research, we have dedicated preclinical imaging lab with all modalities such a MRI, MicroCT, PET and SPECT/CT available for multimodal and multiparametric imaging approaches. Of special interest are here newly developed nuclear tracers for example to image molecular targets in the tumor microenvironment or targets associated with therapy induced immune response. Imaging finds another important application in the context of image guided drug delivery to study biodistribution and therapeutic effects of drug loaded nanocarriers.