# Multi-Modal Optical/ microCT system for Colorado Animal Imaging Resource

> **NIH NIH S10** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2020 · $733,485

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY AND ABSTRACT
The University of Colorado Animal Imaging Shared Resource (AISR) is applying for funds to replace the existing
13-year old optical scanner IVIS200 and 12-year old Siemens Inveon microCT with a state-of-the-art multimodal
system which bundles the 3D tomography IVIS Spectrum optical imager with the Quantum GX2 microCT
scanner. The major users will be 23 investigators (with 28 active NIH R01 projects) from the University of
Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus (CU Anschutz), with pending request for 3-10% of the Accessible User
Time (AUT) per investigator. The requested system will become a part of the Colorado AISR (located within the
CU Anschutz Vivarium), which is substantially supported as a major Institutional Technology Core by the
University of Colorado Cancer Center (UCCC, P30 CA046934) and the Colorado Clinical and Translational
Sciences Institute (CCTSI, UL1TR002535). The AISR was initially funded in 2005; presently, the animal imaging
equipment includes Bruker 9.4 Tesla MRI scanner (2017 NIH S10 HEI), a Xenogen IVIS200, a Siemens Inveon
microPET, a Siemens Inveon microCT, a Mediso microSPECT/CT, and an X-RAD high precision imaging guided
irradiator. The AISR is the only comprehensive Animal Imaging Core in the State of Colorado and, since
inception, has been utilized by 172 investigators (with over 75 being IVIS-users). The rationale for replacing the
existing 13-year old IVIS200 (which has already reached its End-of-Life) with the combination of the IVIS
Spectrum optical and Quantum GX2 microCT scanners lies in the expanded power of 3D anatomic and molecular
imaging co-registration capacity, allowing for the accurate anatomical localization of the optical signal and depth
corrected quantification of signal intensity. The IVIS Spectrum provides highly sensitive 3D molecular imaging of
bioluminescence and fluorescence reporter genes and/or probes, all with transillumination and advanced
spectral unmixing capabilities. The Quantum GX2 microCT, on the other hand, supports anatomical,
physiological, functional and metabolic imaging via the large dynamic range, low dose, fast scanning, gating and
high-resolution features. The system will be used for generating fused optical/ CT images, as well as a single
high-throughput IVIS and a stand-alone in-vivo or specimen high-resolution microCT scanner. The AISR team
has assembled a strong group of NIH funded principal investigators in the areas of oncology, neurooncology,
regenerative medicine and nanotechnology who are the driving force for assembling this application. The
estimated need for the major users in 2019 for optical imaging is 1,715 hours (90% of total AUT) and for microCT
imaging is 1210 hours (76%). The AISR team is composed of a highly qualified translational imaging scientist, a
veterinarian, an animal pathologist and five research assistants. The PI (Dr. Natalie Serkova) has a proven track
record of 16 years for providing translational imaging services that a...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9938145
- **Project number:** 1S10OD027023-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** Natalie J. Serkova
- **Activity code:** S10 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $733,485
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-07-01 → 2021-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9938145

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9938145, Multi-Modal Optical/ microCT system for Colorado Animal Imaging Resource (1S10OD027023-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9938145. Licensed CC0.

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