A shift from cell cultures to creatures: in vivo imaging of small animals in experimental regenerative medicine.

Although the use of small animals for in vivo experimentation has been widespread, only recently has there been easy availability of techniques that allow noninvasive in vivo imaging of small animals. Because these techniques allow the same individual subject to be followed longitudinally throughout the duration of an experiment, their use is rapidly changing the way small animals are employed in the laboratory. In this review, we focus on six imaging modalities that are increasingly employed for small animal in vivo imaging: optical imaging (OI), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), single-photon emission tomography (SPECT), ultrasound (US), and positron-emission tomography (PET). Each modality allows for the noninvasive tracking of cells and cell products in vivo. In addition, multimodality imaging, combining two or more of these techniques, has also been increasingly employed to overcome the limitations of each independent technique. After reviewing these available imaging modalities, we detail their experimental application, exemplified by the emerging field of regenerative medicine, referring to publications whose conclusions would otherwise be difficult to support without the availability of in vivo imaging.