Vrije University Brussels installs MILabs PET-SPECT-CT-MRI platform for nanobody research

MILabs announces the installation of a PET-SPECT-CT-MR preclinical imaging platform at the In Vivo Cellular and Molecular Imaging (ICMI) lab at the University Brussels (VUB) Belgium. In this way the VUB will significantly expand its preclinical imaging capability.

The comprehensive MILabs PET-SPECT-CT-MR preclinical platform combines the best PET-SPECT functional imaging capabilities (sub-half-mm SPECT resolution and sub-mm PET resolution) with high resolution anatomical imaging from an integrated X-ray CT subsystem and/or a compact cryogen free 1.5 T MRI unit.

With this unique PET-SPECT-CT-MR platform we can perform high throughput and validated imaging pharmacokinetics in specific organs as well as the whole body in vivo, very fast and with extreme high accuracy

Says Prof. Tony Lahoute, principal investigator at ICMI lab and head of Nuclear Medicine of the university hospital of the Vrije University Brussel. His groundbreaking nanobody research program has resulted already in several compounds for molecular imaging and therapy in disease areas such as oncology, immunology, cardiology and diabetes. The preclinical imaging research at ICMI has been the basis for several clinical trial programs using radiolabeled nanobodies.
“The newly acquired infrastructure will also be used to implement new ideas on image quality and quantitative accuracy of different radiotracers particularly with the unique capabilities for simultaneously measuring multiple tracers across the entire nuclear energy spectrum” continues Prof. Michel Defrise, principal investigator of the ICMI lab.

“The continued efforts by the Flemish government and the Hercules foundation to provide support to research groups and core facilities such as the ICMI lab, enables MILabs to collaborate on innovating her products and imaging protocols and contributes in this way to the development of new therapies for major diseases” adds Freek Beekman, CEO and founder of MILabs BV.