Translational Imaging with Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is the most common fatal genetic muscle disease in male newborns. It leads to muscle degeneration and inflammation, resulting in loss of physical muscle function. State-of-the-art technologies and radiological procedures such as computer tomography or magnetic resonance imaging allow an increasingly precise resolution of tissues and their disease states. In children and adolescents, however, they can only be used with limitations. The research group of Dr. Ferdinand Knieling therefore focuses on light- and sound-based procedures, which can be used without ionising radiation and contrast agents. Multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) in the extended near-infrared range offers the possibility of non-invasive imaging. In a bench-to-bedside approach, subcellular components of the affected muscles were investigated in a porcine DMD model and in pediatric DMD patients using MSOT. The use of this non-invasive 2D/3D imaging to assess the course of disease in DMD patients is proposed [1, 2].

[1] https://www.kinderklinik.uk-erlangen.de/forschung-und-lehre/wissenschaftliche-studien/ag-dr-knieling/forschungsprofil/

[2] A. Regensburger et al., “New Non-invasive Biomarkers in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Translational Molecular Imaging with Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography.” In: Bd. 50. Sep. 2019. doi: 10.1055/s-0039-1698173.

[3] https://www.fau.de/2019/12/news/wissenschaft/therapien-objektiv-begleiten/

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