Engineering molecular imaging strategies for regenerative medicine

• Published in: Bioengineering & translational medicine Vol. 3; no. 3; pp. 232 - 255
• Main Authors: Willadsen, Matthew, Chaise, Marc, Yarovoy, Iven, Zhang, An Qi, Parashurama, Natesh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA John Wiley & Sons, Inc 01.09.2018
• Subjects: Animals; Biology; Bioluminescence; Cancer; Cell division; Computation; Computed tomography; Cytomegalovirus; Drug dosages; Magnetic resonance imaging; Medical imaging; Medicine; Metabolism; Microscopy; Nanoparticles; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Patients; Photoacoustic microscopy; Positron emission; Quantum dots; Regenerative medicine; Review; Reviews; Stem cells; Tissue engineering; Transplantation; Ultrasonic imaging
• ISSN: 2380-6761; 2380-6761
• DOI: 10.1002/btm2.10114

The reshaping of the world's aging population has created an urgent need for therapies for chronic diseases. Regenerative medicine offers a ray of hope, and its complex solutions include material, cellular, or tissue systems. We review basics of regenerative medicine/stem cells and describe how the field of molecular imaging, which is based on quantitative, noninvasive, imaging of biological events in living subjects, can be applied to regenerative medicine in order to interrogate tissues in innovative, informative, and personalized ways. We consider aspects of regenerative medicine for which molecular imaging will benefit. Next, genetic and nanoparticle‐based cell imaging strategies are discussed in detail, with modalities like magnetic resonance imaging, optical imaging (near infra‐red, bioluminescence), raman microscopy, and photoacoustic microscopy), ultrasound, computed tomography, single‐photon computed tomography, and positron emission tomography. We conclude with a discussion of “next generation” molecular imaging strategies, including imaging host tissues prior to cell/tissue transplantation.