Principles of Probe Design for Molecular Imagers

Molecular imaging allows the visualization of biological events in real-time at tissue, cellular and subcellular levels in living systems by merging conventional imaging techniques with probes designed to report the expression of biomarkers or variations in physiological factors. Successful molecular imaging agents should provide high contrast intensity with low noise-to-signal ratio at the target in vivo for sufficient time. Herein, I recapitulate the principles for designing effective molecular imaging probes for various imaging modalities, and provide fundamental strategies for the development of these probes and their application in biology, diagnosis and therapy