The potential of small animal photonic imaging has been considerably improved since the development of fluorescence diffuse optical tomography (fDOT) ten years ago. fDOT is a preclinical technique that can reconstruct quantitative images of fluorophore distributions in deep seated tissues with applications in the area of oncology, immunology and cardiovascular diseases. Apart from the use of fDOT as a stand-alone modality it can also be integrated as a part of a multimodal imaging framework, in particular in combination with other established molecular imaging modalities like μPET or μCT. To this direction a method will be presented that allows fDOT/PET/CT imaging of the same subject. 

            This seminar is divided in two parts. In the first part, the principles of fDOT will be presented. This will include a brief instrumentation description and an introduction to the optical theory applied for extracting quantitative fluorescent images. The advantages over the planar imaging systems will also be highlighted. In the second part in-vivo applications of the fused PET/fDOT approach for several small animal models will be presented. These include the use of PET and fDOT technologies both comparatively and synergistically.