Role of the multimodal imaging modalities in the pre-clinical animal model research

Pre-clinical imaging techniques consent to study diseases in real time, presenting the possibility to repeatedly and non invasively monitor the disease progression and/or the response to treatment, without interfering with the biological process under investigation. Thanks to this qualities, the application of different imaging modalities effectively fulfils the recent European directives about replacement, reduction and refinement of animals in research. This course provides an introduction on advanced imaging modalities, including high-resolution modalities (CT, MRI, micro-MRI and micro-CT) and functional techniques (fMRI, PET, SPECT and targeted optical imaging), and their application in pre-clinical animal model research.