Single-cell radioluminescence microscopy with two-fold higher sensitivity using dual scintillator configuration

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Imaging
• Radiochemistry
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Radioluminescence microscopy (RLM) enables quantitative analysis of radiolabeled drugs in single cells.
• Current RLM acquisition times (15-30 minutes) limit studies involving short-lived radioactive tracers.
• There is a need for accelerated RLM techniques to expand experimental possibilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a method for significantly accelerating RLM data acquisition.
• To improve RLM sensitivity for enhanced imaging of radiolabeled compounds.
• To enable time-sensitive experiments, such as cell pharmacokinetics and uptake studies.

Main Methods:

• Implemented a double scintillator configuration, sandwiching radiolabeled cells between two scintillators.
• Used [18F]FDG-labeled cells as a proof-of-concept model, a common radiotracer in oncology.
• Validated experimental results using Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations.

Main Results:

• The double scintillator setup achieved a two-fold increase in microscope sensitivity.
• Image acquisition time was reduced by half compared to the single scintillator method.
• Minor degradation in spatial resolution was observed, confirmed by simulations.

Conclusions:

• The double scintillator configuration effectively accelerates RLM, overcoming limitations of slow data acquisition.
• This enhanced RLM approach is suitable for time-sensitive studies with short-lived radiotracers.
• The technique holds promise for advancing research in cell pharmacokinetics and drug uptake mechanisms.