Ferret thoracic anatomy by 2-deoxy-2-(18F)fluoro-D-glucose (18F-FDG) positron emission tomography/computed tomography (18F-FDG PET/CT) imaging.

The domestic ferret (Mustela putorius furo) has been a long-standing animal model used in the evaluation and treatment of human diseases. Molecular imaging techniques such as 2-deoxy-2-((18)F)fluoro-D-glucose ((18)F-FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) would be an invaluable method of tracking disease in vivo, but this technique has not been reported in the literature. Thus, the aim of this study was to establish baseline imaging characteristics of PET/computed tomography (CT) with (18)F-FDG in the ferret model. Twelve healthy female ferrets were anesthetized and underwent combined PET/CT scanning. After the images were fused, volumes of interest (VOIs) were generated in the liver, heart, thymus, and bilateral lung fields. For each VOI, standardized uptake values (SUVs) were calculated. Additional comparisons were made between radiotracer uptake periods (60, 90, and >90 minutes), intravenous and intraperitoneal injections of (18)F-FDG, and respiratory gated and ungated acquisitions. Pulmonary structures and the surrounding thoracic and upper abdominal anatomy were readily identified on the CT scans of all ferrets and were successfully fused with PET. VOIs were created in various tissues with the following SUV calculations: heart (maximum standardized uptake value [SUV(Max)] 8.60, mean standardized uptake value [SUV(Mean)] 5.42), thymus (SUV(Max) 3.86, SUV(Mean) 2.59), liver (SUV(Max) 1.37, SUV(Mean) 0.99), right lung (SUV(Max) 0.92, SUV(Mean) 0.56), and left lung (SUV(Max) 0.88, SUV(Mean) 0.51). Sixty- to 90-minute uptake periods were sufficient to separate tissues based on background SUV activity. No gross differences in image quality were seen between intraperitoneal and intravenous injections of (18)F-FDG. Respiratory gating also did not have a significant impact on image quality of lung parenchyma. The authors concluded that (18)F-FDG PET and CT imaging can be performed successfully in normal healthy ferrets with the parameters identified in this study. They obtained similar imaging features and uptake measurements with and without respiratory gating as well as with intraperitoneal and intravenous (18)F-FDG injections. (18)F-FDG PET and CT can be a valuable resource for the in vivo tracking of disease progression in future studies that employ the ferret model.