Imaging technology

Abstract

Regenerative medicine is a rapidly evolving area in the field of biomedical research. Thereby particularly cell-based advanced medicinal products raise new ethical questions concerning the development and testing of these products in humans. Moreover, on the level of non-clinical research new methods are necessary to study the specific properties of these advanced products. Advanced medicinal products, such as stem cells based applications have the potential to survive in and interact long-term with the host organism. In contrast to postmortem tissue analyses, which are commonly used for conventional drug testing in animals, methods for serial and longitudinal monitoring of both the cells fate and the triggered biological mechanisms that leading to organ repair are needed for testing advanced cell-based products. Furthermore, the human origin of these products requires reliable testing of safety and mode of action in the clinical setting. Therefore new in vivo monitoring techniques with the potential for rapid clinical translation are urgently needed.