Bruker unveiled two new preclinical imaging systems at the World Molecular Imaging Congress 2016 in New York. The new systems are designed to deliver highest performance and improved convenience for routine imaging, and enable novel translational research into the causes, progression, as well as potential diagnosis and treatment of disease.

Bruker’s new SkyScan 1276 microCT (X-ray micro-Computed Tomography) combines highest resolution, speed, accessibility and other innovations to advance improved in vivo scanning of small laboratory animals and of in vitro biological samples in preclinical studies. With continuously variable magnification, including a smallest pixel size of 2.8µm, and a shortest scanning cycle of 3.9 seconds, the SkyScan 1276 gives researchers access to highest-quality images at higher throughput. The SkyScan 1276 also is the world’s first in vivo microCT system with rapid helical scanning, and with unique InstaRecon technology to reconstruct images up to 8000x8000 pixels per slice, faster than any other conventional algorithm. Researchers will also benefit from easy system control by a user-friendly touchscreen and the ability to view and share images on any iOS or android mobile device.

At WMIC 2016, Bruker is also showing its performance-leading Silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) PET insert for simultaneous PET/MRI (Positron Emission Tomography / Magnetic Resonance Imaging) investigations in mice and rats. This novel PET insert is compatible with MRI systems up to 15.2 Tesla and allows simultaneous measurements for the perfect correlation of PET and MRI data in space and time, in order to examine tracer kinetics, therapeutic agent distribution and animal physiology. The new, work-in-progress PET insert has been successfully installed in a 7 Tesla 30 cm magnet in a Bruker preclinical MRI system at the University of Leuven, Belgium under the guidance of Dr. Christophe Deroose, Professor of Nuclear Medicine.

Dr. Uwe Himmelreich, Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Imaging and Pathology at the University of Leuven, commented, “The new Bruker SiPM PET insert enables us to produce improved PET resolution through MRI-based motion correction, and to guide external interventions in real time.  The simultaneous measurements offered us high research throughput, and its unique Full Field Accuracy (FFA) facilitates consistent quantification across the entire field-of-view. With 0.7mm resolution and 12% sensitivity, this high-performance PET insert provides us with a complete solution that seamlessly integrates into the workflows and software of our existing Bruker MRI system.”

“We are delighted to showcase our latest innovations here at the World Molecular Imaging Congress 2016,” said Dr. Wulf I. Jung, President of Bruker’s Preclinical Imaging Division. “With the introduction of the performance-leading SkyScan 1276 microCT system, and the successful customer trial of the novel simultaneous SiPM PET insert at the University of Leuven, Bruker continues to drive innovation in preclinical imaging that enables our customers to advance their translational research.”