- Follow cellular and subcellular processes, such as angiogenesis, which have the potential to control the spread of cancer or return function in ischemic tissues.
- Detect apoptosis (“programmed cell death”) as a sensitive and immediate means of monitoring therapeutic response before anatomical changes become apparent.
- Assess the impact of new genetic therapies for neurodegenerative disease, diabetes, and other disorders which have resisted traditional treatment methods such as surgery, radiation therapy, or pharmacology.
Molecular imaging also provides new insights to help understand the biochemical and genetic basis of life and disease, and to tailor individualized treatments that are more specific and effective than generalized therapies. Molecular imaging also has an essential role in enabling fundamental biological research and the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic techniques by the health care, pharmacological, and biotechnology industries, including studies that extend from small animals (mice and rats) to humans.