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Abstract

Radiographic system and method for noninvasively assessing the response of tissue to a compound, such as a therapeutic compound. In one embodiment, a non-radioactive, radio-opaque imaging agent accumulates in tissue in proportion to the tissue concentration of a predefined cellular target. The imaging agent is administered to a live organism, and after an accumulation interval, radiographic images are acquired. The tissue being examined is transilluminated by X-ray beams with preselected different mean energy spectra, and a separate radiographic image is acquired during transillumination by each beam. An image processing system performs a weighted combination of the acquired images to produce a first image. The image processing procedure isolates the radiographic density contributed solely by differential tissue accumulation of the imaging agent. A compound is administered to the organism, and after a selected interval, a second radiographic image of the tissue is acquired. Radiographic density contributed by accumulated imaging agent in corresponding areas of tissue in the first and second images are compared. Differences in radiographic density between the images reflect changes in the concentration of the cellular target that have occurred after administration of the compound. The system and method may be used to assess therapeutic efficacy of compounds in the drug discovery process, in clinical trials, and in the evaluation of clinical treatment. In other embodiments, pharmacological and toxicological effects of a wide variety of compounds on tissue may be noninvasively assessed.

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