PET is used in laboratory small-animal research to visualize and track certain molecular processes associated with diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and neurologic disorders in living small-animal models of disease. The current and next generation of PET molecular imaging probes, assays, and imaging systems still have substantial room to improve PET's ability to detect, visualize, and quantify low concentrations of probe interacting with its target, which we refer to as the molecular sensitivity. This article focuses on the challenges of advancing PET system and some of the new imaging system technologies under investigation to enhance PET's molecular sensitivity substantially.
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