Madhu Dhar shows how a mouse is placed in the ORNL-developed MicroCAT X-ray computerized tomography system. The device generated images showing the locations of life-threatening fat deposits in the body of a mouse with the newly discovered obesity-related gene. Credit: Curtis Boles/ORNL, U.S. Dept. of Energy
ORNL scientists developed a novel micro-X-ray computed tomography (micro-CT) system for studying mouse phenotypes – traits determined by both genes and environmental factors. Their pioneering advances led to some of the first broadly studied publications on micro-CT imaging in preclinical research. Preclinical studies are key to answering basic questions about the development of disease and the effects of a drug or treatment before clinical trials in humans. The new technologies provided 3-D internal images for small-animal studies that helped scientists understand conditions ranging from obesity to osteoporosis to tumor growth.
In 1998 the ORNL researchers founded a medical imaging startup company called ImTek Inc., which licensed ORNL’s micro-CT technology, designed high-resolution nuclear imaging detectors and developed two types of software: one to reconstruct medical images and another to control three generations of micro-CT products. These products encompassed a multi-modal system that combined X-ray technology with single-photon emission tomography.
After ImTek was purchased, a Tier 1 medical imaging company acquired the technology and developed a new family of preclinical imaging systems to accompany its clinical product line. Over 200 of these state-of-the-art preclinical imaging systems were built and sold to research and development institutions in the United States and internationally. The use of these systems continues to contribute to hundreds of new discoveries in medical imaging, biology, genotype-to-phenotype linkages and drug therapies.