Preclinical studies and prospective clinical applications for bacteria-targeted imaging: the future is bright

Bacterial infections are a frequently occurring and major complication in human healthcare, in particular due to the rapid increase of antimicrobial resistance and the emergence of pan-drug-resistant microbes. Current anatomical and functional imaging modalities are insufficiently capable of distinguishing sites of bacterial infection from sterile inflammation. Therefore, definitive diagnosis of an infection can often only be obtained by tissue biopsy and subsequent culture and, occasionally, a definite diagnosis even appears to be impossible. To accurately diagnose bacterial infections early, novel imaging modalities are urgently needed. In this regard, bacteria-targeted imaging is an attractive option due to its specificity. Here, different bacteria-targeted imaging approaches are reviewed, and their promising future perspectives are discussed.