Scientific Publication: Imaging transplanted islets

Ultra-high resolution imaging with SPECT/CT enables long-term non-invasive monitoring of the fate of transplanted islets in mice

Because nuclear imaging can be used in both preclinical and clinical studies, PET and SPECT are attractive techniques to monitor subjects that received islet transplantation therapy. Compared to PET, SPECT offers distinct advantages: The long half-life of SPECT tracers enables long-term monitoring after transplant, and for non-invasive research applications in mice, only SPECT imaging with ultra-high resolution enables to monitor and quantify islets shortly after transplantation while assessing their long-term survival.
The authors of this publication used ¹¹¹In-labeled exendin-3 to trace and quantify transplanted islets as early as 3 days after transplantation and their survival over a 6-week period.

Scientific Publication

Summary

This publication utilizes the MILabs U-SPECT^TM imaging system to:

• Perform non-invasive in vivo follow-up of transplanted pancreatic islets in mice over a 6-week period
• Enable In vivo quantification as early as 3 days after transplant of pancreatic islets
• Prove that islet-revascularizations correlates with an increase in ¹¹¹In-exendin-3 uptake
• Demonstrate that the ultra-high resolution of U-SPECT enables long-term non-invasive assessment of β-cell survival after transplantation