In addition to creating new possibilities for viewing various bodily processes as they take place simultaneously in organs and tissue, including blood flow and glucose metabolism, the researchers think the system may also prove beneficial to related areas of medicine like pharmaceutical testing, pediatric studies and dose applications.

Work on the system began in 2011 when Cherry and Badawi received a $1.5 million grant from the National Cancer Institute to establish a consortium of researchers and collaborators. Another grant for $15.5 million in 2015 furthered their progress by allowing the two to partner with UIH, which designed the solution based on its latest technology platform and completed a prototype of the system at the end of last year.



UC Davis and UIH are currently working to deliver and install the first of the units in a leased space in Sacramento, where researchers will begin conducting research with it. UC Davis is also collaborating with Hongcheng Shi, director of Nuclear Medicine at Zhongshan Hospital in Shanghai, to continue and expand the scope of early human studies on the scanner.

The responsibility of obtaining clearance for clinical use of the system lies with UIH and is expected to be completed within the second quarter of 2019.

The first scans will be showcased this month at the annual RSNA meeting in Chicago.

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