Abstract
Accurate, non-invasive assessment of the endogenous pancreatic β-cell mass in humans is currently not feasible. The development of a non-invasive assay of β-cell mass would be invaluable in the study of the natural course of diabetes and ongoing attempts to preserve or restore β-cell mass in patients with diabetes. This article reviews imaging methods and radiolabeled ligands which have been proposed or used for non-invasive assessment of the endogenous β- cell mass and discusses patents and future directions for the development of β-cell specific contrast agents.
Keywords: Non-invasive imaging, β-cell mass, imaging probes, BLI, MRI, PET