A review of imaging techniques for systems biology

BMC Systems Biology

Table 1 Comparison of imaging technology for systems biology

Imaging Technique	Resolution References	Spatial Resolution	Scan Time	Contrast Agents and Molecular Probes	Key Use
Multi-photon Microscopy	[29, 38]	15 – 1000 nm	Secs	Fluorescent proteins, dyes, rhodamine amide, quantum dots	Visualization of cell structures
Atomic Force Microscopy	[104]	10 – 20 nm	Mins	Intermolecular forces	Mapping cell surface
Electron Microscopy	[41]	~5 nm	Secs	Cyrofixation	Discerning protein structure
Ultrasound	[29]	50 μm	Secs	Microbubbles, nanoparticles	Vascular imaging
CT/MicroCT	[29, 70]	12 – 50 μm	Mins	Iodine	Lung and bone tumor imaging
MRI/MicroMRI	[29, 76]	4 – 100 μm	Mins – Hrs	Gadolinium, dysprosium, iron oxide particles	Anatomical imaging
fMRI	[105]	~1 mm	Secs – Mins	Oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO₂) deoxygenated hemoglobin (Hb)	Functional imaging of brain activity
MRS	[106, 107]	~2 mm	Secs	N-acetylaspartate (NAA), creatine, choline, citrate	Detection of metabolites
PET/MicroPET	[29, 108]	1 – 2 mm	Mins	Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), ¹⁸F, ¹¹C, ¹⁵O	Metabolic imaging

The various micro versions of the imaging modalities (MicroCT, MicroMRI, MicroPET) as well as the microscopy techniques (Fluorescence, Multi-photon, Atomic, Electron) are primarily used in either cellular or animal studies. The remaining modalities (Ultrasound, CT, MRI, MRS, PET) are more widely used clinically.

ISSN: 1752-0509