Targets of functional imaging
Metabolism
- Oxygen
- Oxygen consumption using [15O]O2 in the brain, heart, skeletal muscle, and BAT
- Oxygen consumption using [1-11C]acetate
- Hypoxia
- Glucose
- Glucose consumption
- Transport
- Perfusion-metabolism mismatch
- GLP-1R
- Insulin
- Lactate
- Amino-acids
- Fatty acids
- Ketone bodies
- Cellular growth
- [11C]Thymidine, [18F]FLT and related nucleosides are markers of DNA synthesis
- Labelled amino-acids as markers of protein synthesis
- Folates
- Transferrin
- Enzyme activity
- Angiogenesis
- Cell death
Perfusion (blood flow)
- Brain
- Cerebral perfusion pressure and mean transit time
- Myocardial muscle using radiowater, Rb-82, [13N]ammonia, and [18F]Flurpiridaz
- Lungs
- Skeletal muscle
- Tumours
- Kidneys
- Liver
- Pancreas
- White and brown adipose tissue
Neurotransmitter systems
- Adenosine
- Adrenergic system
- Cannabinergic (endocannabinoid) system
- Cholinergic system
- Dopaminergic system
- GABAergic system
- Glutamatergic system
- Histaminergic system
- Opioidergic system
- P2 purinoceptors
- Serotonergic system
- Sigma receptors
- Bmax and KD
- Synaptic density
- Enzymes
- Transporters
- Neurotransmitter release
Steroid hormones
Biologics and biosimilars
Protein deposits (proteinopathies)
Organs and tissues
Literature
Alam IS, Arshad MA, Nguyen Q, Aboagye EO. Radiopharmaceuticals as probes to characterize tumour tissue. Eur J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2015; 42: 537-561. doi: 10.1007/s00259-014-2984-3.
Cumming P, Vasdev N. The assay of enzyme activity by positron emission tomography. Neuromethods 2012; 71: 111-135. doi: 10.1007/7657_2012_53.
Holland JP, Cumming P, Vasdev N. PET radiopharmaceuticals for probing enzymes in the brain. Am J Nucl Med Mol Imaging 2013; 3(3): 194-216. PMID: 23638333.
Neumann K, Flavell R, Wilson DM. Exploring metabolism in vivo using endogenous 11C metabolic tracers. Semin Nucl Med. 2017; 47: 461-473. doi: 10.1053/j.semnuclmed.2017.05.003.
Sosuke Miyoshi, Keisuke Mitsuoka, Shintaro Nishimura and Stephan A. Veltkamp (2011). Radioisotopes in Drug Research and Development: Focus on Positron Emission Tomography, Radioisotopes - Applications in Bio-Medical Science, Prof. Nirmal Singh (Ed.), ISBN: 978-953-307-748-2, InTech, doi: 10.5772/22728.
Vāvere AL, Scott PJH. Clinical applications of small-molecule PET radiotracers: current progress and future outlook. Semin Nucl Med. 2017; 47: 429-453. doi: 10.1053/j.semnuclmed.2017.05.001.
Wong DF, Gründer G, Brasic JR. Brain imaging research: Does the science serve clinical practice? Int Rev Psychiatry 2007; 19(5): 541-558. PMID: 17896234.
Updated at: 2025-11-10
Created at: 2007-10-22
Written by: Vesa Oikonen