Maternal-fetal in vivo imaging: a combined PET and MRI study.

Abstract

The pregnant macaque in combination with PET and MRI technology allows the measurement of radioisotope distribution in maternal and fetal organs. This demonstrates the potential for noninvasively measuring the transfer of drugs across the placenta and for measuring the fetal drug distribution. It also opens up the possibility for studying binding and elimination as well as the effects of a drug on specific cellular elements and physiologic processes during the gestational period in a primate model.