Landau Lab · Translational Neuroimaging · Aarhus University
Landau Lab teaching · tracer development

What makes a good PET tracer?

Following [11C]UCB-J from a question to people · 10 min 39 s · 5 decisions for you · narrated · captions available
In interactive mode the video pauses at each Pause & Think. Answer with a click or keys 1–4; the narrated explanation then continues automatically after a short countdown (press Esc to stay on the question). Classroom mode plays straight through: each question has a 10-second on-screen countdown, so pause there to discuss.
Facilitator guide

How to use this in class

Live session (15–25 min)

Play full-screen in classroom mode. At each violet Pause & Think card, pause during the 10-second countdown, let students vote, then resume: the narrator reveals and explains the answer.

Self-study

Share this page. Interactive mode pauses automatically, keeps answers in this browser only, and flows on into the narrated explanation. Use the discussion prompts below for a follow-up seminar.

Real, simulated or made up?

Images marked REAL are the lab's published figures, credited on screen. Curves and maps marked SIMULATED are illustrative. The candidates in Questions 1 and 5 are MADE-UP for teaching. Every number on a chart comes from a published paper named on screen.
Learning objectives

By the end, students should be able to…

  1. Outline the seven steps from a biological question to human PET studies, using [11C]UCB-J and SV2A as the example.
  2. Weigh affinity against selectivity, brain entry, lipophilicity and non-specific binding when choosing a candidate.
  3. Explain how a PET signal is shown to mean something: blocking, tissue comparison, independent measures, a metabolite-corrected input and kinetic modelling.
  4. Judge whether a tracer is ready for patients from its specific signal, its test–retest reliability and the path to human use.
Run sheet

Chapters and timings

TimeChapterKey points
Question bank

The five decisions

Evidence base

References

Every factual claim in the narration was checked against the primary literature before recording. Lab results come from published Landau Lab papers only.
    Credits

    Figures, simulations and sound

    AssetTypeSource & licence