New PET Tracer Capable of Accurately Pinpointing Life-Threatening Blood Clots

Researchers have demonstrated that a new molecular imaging technique using Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and a new radiotracer Cu-64 FBP8 can accurately pinpoint nearly all thrombi throughout the body of laboratory rats.

Scientists revealed the technique in a study presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI; Reston, Virginia, USA).

The researchers injected the radiotracer Cu-64 FBP8, which binds to fibrin in blood clots, and then used PET imaging to detect the radioactive “hot spots” in the body after image. The rats were injected with the radiotracer at intervals of one, three, or seven days after the development of thrombi in either arteries or veins, and found that Cu-64 FBP8 was able to find thrombi with and accuracy of more than 97%. Thrombi cause pulmonary emboli, strokes, deep vein thrombosis, and heart attacks.

According to Francesco Blasi, PhD, lead author of the study from the Center for Biomedical Imaging, in the radiology department of the Massachusetts General Hospital (Charlestown, MA, USA), a first-in-human study of the new technique is planned in Fall 2015, pending approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA; Silver Spring, MD USA).

Principle investigator of the study, Peter Caravan, PhD, said, "If approved, fibrin-specific PET could facilitate diagnosis, guide therapeutic choices, and help physicians monitor their patients’ treatment. This technique also offers full-body detection of thrombi with a single injection of probe, instead of the current imaging standards, which are limited to specific parts of the body. A one-time, whole-body scan could prevent unnecessary procedures and uncover hidden thrombi before they generate a deadly embolism.”

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