This technology relates to the field of radioactive, isotopically-labeled calcofluor derivatives and uses of such compounds to detect a broad spectrum of filamentous fungi including pathogenic species such as Aspergillus and Mucorales, by diagnostic imaging methods such as positron emission tomography (PET) scanning.

The invention pertains to a technique for enhancing the resolution of images in light sheet microscopy by adding additional enhanced depth-of-focus optical arrangements and high numerical aperture objective lenses. The technique employs an arrangement of three objective lenses and a processor for combining captured images. The image composition utilizes the greater resolving power of the third high numerical aperture objective lens by imaging the light sheet and enhanced depth-of-focus arrangement resulting in improved overall resolution of the light sheet system.

The invention describes a method for improving the spatial resolution of optical microscopes that use line-scanning excitation, such as line-scanning confocal microscopes, line-scanning STED microscopes, or line-scanning light-sheet microscopes.

Available for licensing and commercial development as imaging agents for positron emission tomography of cancer are boramino acid compounds. The inventors showed that mimetics created by substituting the carboxylate group (-COO^-) of an amino acid with trifluoroborate (-BF_3^-) are metabolically stable and allow for the use of fluorene-18 (¹⁸F) as the radiolabel.

One of four deaths in the United States is due to cancer despite an emphasis on prevention, early detection, and treatment that has lowered cancer death rates by 20% in the past two decades. Further improvements in survival rates are likely to come from improving the limits of detection sensitivity at earlier stages of cancer. New approaches that rely heavily on genomic information, however, may change future testing strategies.

The invention relates to a combination hybrid computer tomography (CT) system that is particularly suited for elucidating stages in pulmonary diseases, notably cystic fibrosis and lung cancer. Improved visualization of lung parenchyma and the margins of lung cysts (non-invasive “virtual biopsy”) may provide sufficient detail to distinguish the types of cystic lesions such that the typical lung tissue pathologic biopsy would not be needed to make a diagnosis.

Cancer represents the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with approximately 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer related deaths in 2012. This number is predicted to rise by approximately 70% over the next two decades according to the World Health Organization. Prognosis depends heavily on both early detection and frequent monitoring of the patient's response to treatment. Cancerous tumors shed nucleic acids into blood, which can be detected by ultra-deep sequencing of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

With respect to quantification of metabolites in the brain, conventional methods of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) yield results that are highly variable and highly dependent on the sequence type being applied. This invention describes a novel MRS technique that involves preparing longitudinal steady states at different flip angles using trains of RF pulses interspersed with field gradients to quantify metabolites.

The molecular imaging technique of positron emission tomography (PET) is an increasingly important tool in biomedical research and in drug discovery and development. Many small molecule drugs and potential PET radiotracers carry trifluoromethyl (CF₃) groups. Because CF₃ groups are generally considered to be metabolically stable, there is a strong interest in developing drugs with these groups.

The invention relates to fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) and their uses as fiducial markers for microscopy. FNDs are bright fluorescent probes that do not blink or bleach and have broad fluorescence excitation and emission peaks. The fluorescence intensity can be readily controlled by the size of the FND, the number of fluorescent centers produced in the nanodiamonds, or in situ through the application of a weak magnetic field.