CE 524LEC - Principles, Tools, and Applications of In Vivo Molecular Imaging

Molecular Imaging is a rapidly expanding, interdisciplinary subject which focuses on quantitative imaging molecular events in living subjects by visualizing disease and by the engineering of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. This course will introduce senior undergraduate/beginning graduate students to this field. We will cover how bio-molecular systems are designed, and how principles of transport/pharmacokinetics, thermodynamics, and kinetics govern the generation of an in vivo imaging signal. We will also cover the physics of instrumentation including (optical (fluorescence, bioluminescence, absorption, scattering), radionuclide, magnetic, acoustic, photoacoustic etc.), and review applications of these tools for understanding the molecular basis of diseases, developing new drugs, and monitoring new therapies. For chemical or biological engineering students, imaging techniques are becoming more prevalent in industry, and there has been an explosion of new techniques. In this senior level/graduate course, we review fundamental aspects of chemical engineering , biomedical optics and radiology, physics, applied chemistry, and applied biology are taught in an integrated manner. Students learn how to read, analyze, and interpret the molecular imaging literature as well as how to analyze a “molecular image.” Further, students learn how to apply chemical and biological engineering principles to design molecular probes and reporter genes that probe biological systems in living tissues. Finally, students learn the basic design and function of various instrumentation used in molecular imaging, and how molecular imaging products are generated and used for the clinical care of patients. This course is dual listed with CE 424.

Credits: 3