UTRECHT, THE NETHERLANDS, June 4, 2014. A U-SPECT+/CT (MILabs, The Netherlands) will be installed at Northwestern University (Chicago, IL) to deliver ultra-high resolution, high sensitivity, accurate quantification and fast scanning speed of dynamic radio-labeled molecule distributions, contributing to molecular and functional studies in CNS, cardiovascular, oncology, nephrology and reproductive biology.
The MILabs system will be placed in Silverman Hall, home for the Chemistry for Life Processes Institute (CLP) and installed in the Center for Advanced Molecular Imaging (CAMI) led by Professor Thomas Meade, Ph.D. and will serve as a valuable tool for 17 research groups and join other unique shared resources that provide an efficient framework for drug discovery and development.
Purchase of the instrument is supported by the Office of Research Infrastructure Programs, National Institute of Health. Ming Zhao, PhD is the Principal Investigator of the Shared Instrumentation Grant. The scanner will play an active role in enhancing a collaborative environment at Northwestern, and will be instrumental for imaging technology development, characterization of fundamental biology, understanding underlying pathophysiology of diseases, and translating novel therapeutics and diagnostics to clinical practice. Dr. Zhao and his team will also work with the research lab of Prof. Freek Beekman Ph.D. at TU Delft to optimize SPECT protocols for various quantification tasks.
MILabs is very excited to have the opportunity to work with Northwestern and to support the development and advancement of biomedical research.
About MILabs
MILabs provides high-end preclinical molecular imaging solutions (SPECT/PET/CT/MR) for biomedical and pharmaceutical research. Today these systems contribute worldwide to the development of new diagnostic solutions and therapies for diseases such as cancer, cardiac and neurodegenerative diseases, depression and diabetes. U-SPECT+/CT provides the fastest, most sensitive and highest resolution small-animal SPECT currently available. Recently MILabs introduced VECTor+ and VECTor+/CT providing extremely user friendly, fully integrated and simultaneous ultra-high resolution SPECT/PET. In collaboration with RS2D, MILabs has also introduced MR+, a dedicated, integrated preclinical MRI systems at clinical field strengths.
About TU Delft
Delft University of Technology also known as TU Delft is the largest and oldest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. With eight faculties and numerous research institutes it hosts over 19,000 students (undergraduate and postgraduate), more than 3,300 scientists and more than 2,200 people in the support and management staff.
The university was established on January 8, 1842 by King William II of the Netherlands as a Royal Academy, with the main purpose of training civil servants for the Dutch East Indies. The school rapidly expanded its research and education curriculum, becoming first a Polytechnic School in 1864, Institute of Technology in 1905, gaining full university rights, and finally changing its name to Delft University of Technology in 1986.
About Northwestern
Founded in 1851, Northwestern University is one of the country's leading private research universities, with an annual budget of $2 billion and sponsored research in excess of $500 million. Located on two lakeshore campuses - one in Chicago and one in Evanston, the first suburb north of Chicago - Northwestern enrolls about 17,000 students and has some 2,500 full-time faculty. The University has a long history of leadership in interdisciplinary research programs and centers. More than 90 school-based centers and more than two dozen University centers support interdisciplinary research that spans a wide spectrum of areas, including neuroscience, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and drug discovery.