A laboratory animal imaging facility
INFINITY is a core imaging facility providing access to state-of-the-art preclinical medical imaging devices. INFINITY provides access to the whole spectrum of medical imaging devices that are routinely used in hospitals but optimized for laboratory animal work.
The following preclinical imaging technologies are available: ultrasound (US), X-ray imaging, Computer Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT). In addition, there is also a device available for bioluminescent and fluorescent imaging, and a platform for radiation treatment of laboratory animals similar to radiotherapy in humans. All these instruments are designed for living subjects, so repeated studies can be performed that provide longitudinal data in the same subject, reducing the number of animals required for such studies.
The strength of INFINITY is that all these preclinical devices are available in adjacent rooms, facilitating multimodality imaging strategies. The lab is located at the campus of Ghent University Hospital. Support from our engineers enables flexible, fast and more advanced data processing and analysis, greatly accelerating the development of novel imaging biomarkers and therapeutic strategies.
