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The micro PET scanner:
For years, scientists have linked chemicals known as "free radicals" with accelerated aging. The body produces free radicals when it uses oxygen to metabolize, or burn, food. Many scientists now speculate a low-calorie diet will lower metabolism – in turn lowering free radical damage. The National Institute on Aging awarded Dr. McCarter a $1 million grant to see if that theory holds true. Dr. McCarter is using a high-tech piece of equipment called a positron emission tomography (PET) system and a team of rodents to complete his research. "The micro PET scanner is the only way of measuring organ metabolic rate in small animals," Dr. McCarter said. "We are one of only a handful of institutions that have this capability." The equipment provides a painless and astonishingly accurate snapshot of oxygen flow in the rodents’ liver, kidneys, heart and brain. Dr. McCarter is using it to compare the metabolic rate in a group of rodents on a very strict diet, to that of rodents eating at will. It only takes five to 10 minutes to get a scan of each organ; the rodent remains comfortably wrapped in a thermal blanket during the process. Dr. McCarter is completing his work at the Health Science Center’s Research Imaging Center. He should have the final results in three years.
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UT Health Science Center
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