Integrated Multimodal Imaging in Molecular Image Guided Radiation Therapy- MIGRT

and Nanoradioguidance.

Dr. Rao V. L. Papineni
1,2,3
, William McLaughlin and Juan C Gonzalez

1
Precision X-RAY Inc,
2
PACT & Health LLC,
3
Kansas University Medical Center
(Adjunct).
papineni@graduate.hku.hk

Effective use of radiation in radiation oncology can be
accomplished through real time visualization, and by delineating
the tumor boundaries. This can be achieved by integrating optical
molecular imaging into the radiation treatment. Here we describe
design, construction, and validation of Molecular Image Guided
Radiation Therapy (MIGRT) instrumentation for preclinical
theragnostics. X-ray excitable nanoparticles (100 KeV) are used as
a proof of concept to obtain radioguidance of the sentinel lymph
nodes in swiss albino mice. The multimodal molecular imaging
(MI) module with appropriate shielding is engineered into a steel
lined x-ray irradiator chamber. The MI module includes a stage to
immobilize and position small animals (mice to rabbit) or tissue
culture plates. Phosphor screens between the animal chamber and
the detector facilitate both the optical and radiographic images to
be captured at the same focal plane. A cooled charge-coupled
device (CCD) based system images the specimen in X-ray mode
and optical mode to allow co-registration of luminescent tumors or
target tissues on an X-ray background of the animal or other
samples. RT is achieved using x-ray tube with a homogenic beam
powered by 320 kV stable X-ray generators using fixed and/or
adjustable collimators. The combined X-ray contrast and optical
imaging thus is capable of providing physiological and functional
details of normal or diseased tissue non-invasively at a molecular
level. Functional and molecular imaging during or post RT also
opens novel opportunities to determine and explore the molecular
mechanisms in radiation biology- thereby developing new
therapeutic strategies complementing radiation therapy- with a
distinct footprint in immunotherapy, adoptive cell therapy, and
targeted chemotherapy.