Molecular imaging for diagnosis and management of diabetes – a review

Diabetes incidence is increasing due to population growth, aging, urbanisation, and increasing prevalence of obesity and physical inactivity. This has spurred efforts to apply imaging techniques to gain better understanding of pathogenesis of diabetes. In particular, efforts have been focused on imaging the pancreatic islets for insulin-producing beta-cells. As insulin is the primary hormone involved in glucose regulation, variations in pancreatic beta-cell mass (BCM) are central to the etiology of diabetes. Location of pancreas and sparse distribution of beta-cells within the pancreas have thus far posed challenges in accurate BCM quantification for early diabetes detection. However, recent advances in the application of molecular imaging techniques exhibit potential in early detection and prevention of diabetes progression. They have been used with promising success for visualisation and quantification of BCM in experimental and clinical settings. We review the strengths and weaknesses of molecular imag...