Preclinical PET/CT

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: Funded in 2026
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 573088104

Small as well as large animals as disease models have been indispensable in biological and medical research and play a key role in the clinical translation of new diagnostic and therapeutic methods. Dedicated preclinical tomographic imaging systems such as Computer Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), as well as the nuclear imaging modalities Single Photon Emission Computer Tomography (SPECT) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) offer the unique opportunity to non-invasively study biological processes such as disease development or response to therapy without sacrificing the animal. While MRI and CT offer superb contrast for soft tissue and bone, respectively, PET and SPECT provide molecular information at tissue or cellular level using radiolabeled targeted probes - termed molecular imaging. Nuclear imaging in combination with MRI or CT is widely used to visualize e.g. targets related to tumor development, the tumor microenvironment, immune response or also related to neurological diseases. Moreover, nuclear imaging allows assessing pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of radiolabeled molecules or drugs in vivo, making it a perfect tool for (bio-)-chemical and pharmacological research. At the University of Cologne (UHC), members of the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Inst. of Radiochemistry and Experimental Molecular Imaging, and the Inst. of Radiology jointly founded in 2018 a laboratory for preclinical imaging located within the Nuclear Medicine building. This facility comprises scanners for multimodal preclinical imaging, animal housing, laboratories for (radio)chemistry, behavioral studies and histology. The lab is open to all groups of the Faculty of Medicine as well as Mathematics and Natural Sciences, and has recently been added to the Central Core Facilities of the Faculty of Medicine. It is used in several CRCs and collaborative projects and is therefore part of an indispensable research infrastructure of the University. Research activities cover topics in oncology, neurodegenerative diseases, and stroke in small animals. Furthermore, cardiology research as well as MR-guided interventions are conducted in large animal models. The current imaging equipment comprises a human 3T MRI scanner (with large and small animal coils), a preclinical PET, a SPECT/CT and a microCT. All systems were built around 2004-2006. The MRI scanner reaches End of Support 2025, the PET and microCT scanners lack spare parts and can’t be repaired anymore. The CT unit of the SPECT/CT scanner is now broken and beyond repair. Furthermore, all systems are outdated in performance and technology and need replacement. This proposal addresses the replacement of the preclinical PET with a new PET/CT system.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Präklinisches PET/CT
• Instrumentation Group: 3321 Positronen-Emissionstomographen (PET)
• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Leader: Professor Dr. Holger Grüll