Active Research Projects

Preclinical imaging modalities are playing an increasingly important role in the early diagnosis of diseases, understanding the progression of diseases, monitoring the effectiveness of treatments, and developing image-based biomarkers for different stages of diseases. These imaging techniques are commonly used in animal disease models to evaluate the potential of new pharmacological and biotechnological treatments before proceeding to human trials. They allow for non-invasive, quantitative, and reproducible investigations of biodistribution and pharmacokinetics, minimizing the need for animal sacrifices and invasive procedures. Many developed countries have national centres dedicated to preclinical in vivo imaging studies, which serve as critical technological infrastructures for advancing innovative devices, image acquisition technologies, and clinical applications driven by basic science research. These centres are vital for the development of new treatments and improving healthcare outcomes.

The aim of this project is to design and model a gamma camera module that can be used for preclinical SPECT imaging and to produce an advanced prototype that can be used for experimental animal imaging. The modular detector prototype to be developed in this context can be used for imaging small experimental animals in drug development studies in nuclear medicine applications, SPECT imaging will be performed by means of a gamma camera or rotary mechanism. The potential of the unique modular approach to be developed within the scope of the project to be used in different designs for different clinical nuclear imaging systems will be extensively studied in a separate work package within the scope of the project.

Thyroid scintigraphy is a nuclear medicine procedure that provides metabolic and structural information about the thyroid gland. In current clinical conditions, thyroid scintigraphy and uptake studies generally employ a pinhole collimator mounted on a gamma camera. Since the pinhole collimator consists of lead or tungsten, it is weighty. During the examination, the pinhole collimator is usually located above the neck of the supine-positioned patient for thyroid imaging, which could lead to a potential crush hazard in case of a failure in collimator fasteners during patient examination. With the recent advancements in photomultiplier (PM) and silicon technologies, it is now possible to construct miniature, portable, and handheld cameras for molecular imaging in small ROIs like thyroid. However, current mini gamma cameras also require a collimator which limits the compactness of the system. Moreover, it decreases the number of photons arriving in the detector and increases the acquisition time.

The overall goal of the project is the design and development of a compact Compton gamma camera system that provides high-resolution 2D images from more than one plane simultneously without using a collimator. The camera system will utilize state-of-the-art detector technologies to combine the thyroid imaging and uptake calculation procedures. Thus, it will achieve more accurate results and circumvent the time-consuming collimator replacement.

The project will focus on development of light-driven multimodal nanocarriers for drug delivery applications. To develop multimodal systems, we will work on the following topics:

(1) Multimodal nanocarriers based on biopolymeric nanocapsules loaded with photothermal agents will be developed.

(2) Encapsulation of drugs and in-vitro drug release will be investigated.

(3) Surface functionalization of multimodal nanocarriers with targeting and/or stealth materials will be performed.

This collaborative project focuses on development of a high-precision magnetic particle imaging (MPI) system for neuroimaging and neurovascular imaging through the participation of different research groups from Bogazici University and Bilkent University as part of the TUBITAK 1004 Excellence Program.

BIND Lab's part in this project is to develop multimodal nanocapsules that can be used for both MPI and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems. The developed nanocapsules will carry magnetic nanoparticles and will be designed to have properties such as higher stability, increased blood retention time and enhanced biocompatibility. BIND Lab team will also work on the design and synthesis of magnetic nanoparticles in the scope of this project.  The MPI systems will be developed by UMRAM, Bilkent University, and headed by Dr. Sarıtaş.

Biofunctional Nanomaterials Design (BIND) Laboratory

Bilkent University, National Magnetic Resonance Research Center (UMRAM)

Boğaziçi University, Preclinical high field (7 T) MRI technology (MR Solutions)

Bilkent University, UMRAM: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emine Ülkü Sarıtaş

Boğazici University, Institute of Biomedical Engineering: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Esin Öztürk Işık

Biofunctional Nanomaterials Design (BIND) Laboratory

Biofunctional Nanomaterials Design (BIND) Laboratory