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Updated: Feb 27, 2026

4D Microscopy of Yeast
Published on: April 28, 2019
Three-dimensional spatiotemporal tracking of fluorine-18 radiolabeled yeast cells via positron emission particle
Seth T Langford1, Cody S Wiggins2, Roque Santos1,3
1Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, Knoxville, Tennessee, United States of America.
Abstract:
A method for Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT) based on optical feature point identification techniques is demonstrated for use in low activity tracking experiments. A population of yeast cells of approximately 125,000 members is activated to roughly 55 Bq/cell by 18F uptake. An in vitro particle tracking experiment is performed with nearly 20 of these cells after decay to 32 Bq/cell. These cells are successfully identified and tracked simultaneously in this experiment. This work extends the applicability of PEPT as a cell tracking method by allowing a number of cells to be tracked together, and demonstrating tracking for very low activity tracers.

