# Total-Body PET/CT for assessing Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity and Treatment Response

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · 2020 · $207,240

## Abstract

Project Summary
The EXPLORER system, built via funding from an NIH transformative R01 award, is a unique PET/CT scanner
that offers: (1) an axial field of view that covers the whole adult human body in one shot; (ii) significant radiation
dose reduction compared to current PET/CT protocols; (3) scans of the entire body in under 1 min; and (4) ability
to visualize small structure and joints that is significantly better than current PET/CT systems. We hypothesize
that EXPLORER will offer an exceptional insight into systemic Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) pathology and provide
quantitative, in vivo measures (biomarkers) for enabling a comprehensive assessment of RA disease activity
and treatment response.
 In our first specific aim, we will establish the association between EXPLORER measures with
standardized RA outcome measures. In our second specific aim, we will evaluate the capabilities of EXPLORER
measures to track changes in these outcome measures in response to RA treatment. Our study will involve two
groups of participants with RA. Participants in the first group will have had an inadequate response to RA non-
biologic therapy and will be candidates for starting standard-of-care RA biologic therapy in addition to non-
biologic therapy. These participants will be scanned on the EXPLORER system at two time points; before starting
biologic therapy and 3 months after starting biologic therapy. Participants in the second group will have stable
disease and will have chosen to continue to manage their RA based on the same standard-of-care non-biologic
therapy. These participants will be scanned at two time points, 3 months apart. A total of 60 participants (30 per
group) will be enrolled in the study.
 This work is innovative because the characteristics of the newly-developed EXPLORER system in terms
of its field-of-view, sensitivity and spatial resolution would enable new findings relevant to both clinical and basic
science research in RA. This work is significant because systemic assessment and quantification of RA disease
activity based on total-body and low-dose PET/CT imaging capabilities of EXPLORER could enable improved
risk stratification and precise monitoring of the effects of RA treatments on joints, and other crucial organs across
the body, with scan times of just a few minutes. The ultimate beneficiaries will be RA patients as their therapeutic
options will widen and treatments will be more personalized. This observational study is well-suited for the PAR-
18-597 because it focuses on associating objective imaging biomarkers with established outcome measures of
RA and addresses significant obstacles in the rheumatology field regarding the applicability of an advanced
imaging technique (PET/CT) in future clinical studies and clinical practice.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9984964
- **Project number:** 5R01AR076088-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Abhijit J Chaudhari
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $207,240
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9984964

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9984964, Total-Body PET/CT for assessing Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity and Treatment Response (5R01AR076088-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9984964. Licensed CC0.

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