RTF VII: Multiscale imaging

In RTF VII, the aim is to develop new technological methods with which we can already detect inflammation before it becomes apparent in the form of visible symptoms. Methods should also be developed with which we can measure the severity of the current symptoms of inflammation, without the source of error of the subjective judgement of the doctor performing the diagnosis.  In addition, the methods should serve to enable very early determination of the efficacy of medication once it has been administered to an individual, and thereby decide individually on continuation of the treatment.  

The most striking feature of RTF VII is the complementary nature of the imaging methods researched. These complement each other in an ideal way.  For example, magnetic resonance tomography has the ability to map the entire inner body of patients, and it provides outstanding contrast in the soft tissue. However, the spatial resolution is limited to a few tenths of a millimeter. Although optical imaging methods may suffer from a lower penetration depth, they offer unrivalled spatial resolution and can display the smallest cellular details in the tissue. In turn, positron emission tomography can theoretically detect even the smallest concentrations of chemical substances such as metabolites, i.e. metabolic products. Thus, the methods in RTF VII complement each other ideally regarding their unique strengths and weaknesses.

Precision medicine draws on the classification of patients and their respective disease patterns in order to enable the most appropriate and effective treatment possible. To do so, precision medicine uses the methods of molecular diagnostics, imaging and analysis. Therefore, the imaging technology efforts in RTF VII represent the corresponding complementary counterpoint to the molecular diagnostic techniques. RTF VII will provide new laboratory instruments, medical technology, imaging methods and multi-parametric analysis procedures which directly complement the existing clinical imaging.

There is an important connection with research area CD-4. The goal here is to put the optical imaging devices developed in RTF VII into clinical use in CD-4, and evaluate their potential in dermatology, gastroenterology and pulmology. Furthermore, the technologies from RTF VII will be used in CD-2 for assessing the intake of medications, and used in general for the stratification of patients and the development of new therapeutic endpoints, which also includes live imaging of the metabolism of the microbiome (CD-2). In addition, cutting-edge optical and hyperpolarized magnetic resonance imaging processes, which are currently only usable in laboratory environments, will be transferred to prototypes in RTF VII and evaluated right through to use in patients (CD-1, CD-4).