Photodynamic therapy as a relatively new therapy has emerged to prominence based on its promising results. There is need to develop better quantitative imaging techniques as surrogate biomarkers for early assessment of therapeutic response.

Abnormalities of the brain serotonin transporter are implicated in many neuropsychiatric disorders.  One of CSI's projects led to the translation of the best carbon-11 SERT radiotracer, [¹¹C]HOMADAM, from benchside to bedside, to study depressed patients.

Head motion during a PET scan significantly degrades image quality, especially in high resolution scanners. Our motion tracking and correction method has the potential for improving image quality if the causative motion is known.

Prostate cancer affects 1 in 6 men in the USA. At CSI, we are developing a molecular image-directed, 3D ultrasound-guided system for targeted biopsy of the prostate.

The multispectral in vivo fluorescence imaging system could be used to guide the development and evaluation of new drugs, nanoparticles, quantum dots, and imaging probes.

There is an urgent need to develop Quantitative Imaging methods and clinical decision software tools. Image registration, segmentation, classification and quantitative image analysis techniques play an increasing role in modern radiology and clinical applications.

At CSI, we're developing a method to measure neurotransmitter levels and cell-surface expressed DAT. The goal is to study disorders linked to the monoamine transporter system and determine how drugs alter transporter expression.

In an in vitro study, novel ligands developed at CSI outcompeted known potent radioactive peptides, [I-125]ornithine vasotocin and [I-125]linear vasopressin, for the oxytocin and vasopressin receptors on slices of vole brain tissue.