Development of a Lensless Radiomicroscope for Cellular-Resolution Radionuclide Imaging

Area of Science:

• Nuclear medicine and molecular imaging
• Biomedical engineering and instrumentation
• Cell biology and cancer research

Background:

• Radiopharmaceuticals act at the cellular level, but current assays lack cellular resolution.
• Existing methods measure radionuclide uptake in bulk or small cell populations, limiting radiopharmaceutical development.
• This gap hinders effective disease detection, staging, and treatment strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel imaging modality for high-resolution, in vitro radionuclide imaging.
• To overcome limitations of existing assays by enabling single-cell resolution.
• To facilitate the development of advanced radiopharmaceuticals for clinical applications.

Main Methods:

• Development of a lensless radiomicroscope (LRM) using off-the-shelf components (<$100).
• In vitro imaging of beta- and alpha-emitting radionuclides with direct charged particle detection.
• Utilized a consumer-grade complementary metal-oxide semiconductor detector for imaging.

Main Results:

• The LRM images over 5,000 cells in a 1 cm² field of view, a 100-fold increase in capacity.
• Achieved spatial resolution of 5 μm (brightfield) and 30 μm (¹⁸F positron imaging).
• Quantified ¹⁸F-FDG uptake in breast cancer cells post-radiation, revealing changes in uptake per area and dynamic glucose avidity.

Conclusions:

• The LRM provides a high-resolution, large-field-of-view, and cost-effective solution for in vitro radiotracer imaging.
• Enables single-cell resolution of radionuclide uptake, advancing research in radiopharmaceutical development.
• Offers a significant improvement over existing technologies for cellular-level radionuclide analysis.