MRI and Drug Dosing

Positron emission tomography scans and radioactive labels now allow researchers to image a drug’s effect on the brain with considerable specificity.  But, PET imaging is costly, and repeated exposure to radioactive tags can be dangerous, which prompted a group at Washington University in St. Louis to see if an MRI approach might do something similar.  Their result is a technique called “arterial spin labeling” (ASL) which detects magnetic spin in blood water as it moves through neck arteries to the brain, before and after drug dosing.  For medications, like antidepressants, that can take several weeks to achieve their desired effect, ASL could be highly advantageous for new drug development.           MORE

Image Credit: Kevin Black and Technology Review