Revolutionary Total Body PET Scanner Enhances Brain Disease Detection via Blood-Brain Barrier Imaging

A groundbreaking development in medical imaging technology has introduced a total body PET scanner capable of non-invasively assessing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability, thereby advancing the early detection and understanding of brain-related diseases. UC Davis researchers have adapted this state-of-the-art scanner—named EXPLORER—to evaluate how systemic conditions like cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, and metabolic syndromes impact brain health.

Traditionally, imaging BBB permeability depended on MRI scans that could only reveal blood vessel leakage, a symptom manifesting late in disease progression. PET imaging, while effective in identifying molecular changes, was limited by the complexity and cost associated with radioisotope tracers, especially those involving blood flow measurement. Many hospitals lacked on-site cyclotrons necessary for producing these short-lived flow tracers.

The innovation lies in utilizing the high temporal resolution of the EXPLORER scanner, developed by leading researchers at UC Davis, which can produce dynamic images with frame rates of one second or less. This allows scientists to capture rapid biological processes and subtle transporter activity related to BBB permeability, which were previously difficult to detect. By combining this technology with advanced mathematical modeling, the team can detect early markers of BBB dysfunction, offering potential insights into various diseases before they fully develop.

The study, published in Nature Communications, was led by radiology postdoctoral fellow Kevin Chung under the guidance of Professors Guobao Wang and Simon Cherry. They demonstrated that this method enables quantitative PET imaging of molecular BBB permeability using a wide array of existing radiotracers—from over a thousand options—giving researchers extensive flexibility across different neurological and systemic conditions.

This approach opens new avenues for early diagnosis and monitoring of diseases like Alzheimer’s, multiple sclerosis, and brain cancers. It also provides a valuable tool for tracking effects of aging, inflammation, and other systemic health factors on BBB integrity. As Wang notes, this technique fills a significant gap in neuroimaging, potentially transforming how clinicians diagnose and manage brain diseases in the future.

The development of the EXPLORER scanner was a collaboration between UC Davis engineers and radiologists, and its successful application heralds a new era in systemic and neurological health assessment, with the promise of more precise, early interventions based on molecular imaging insights.