Development of an Improved Method of Measuring Total Body Bone Perfusion Using Total-body PET/CT

October 1, 2026 updated by: King's College London

Broken bones (fractures) are a common problem in several serious health conditions, such as osteoporosis, kidney failure, and sickle cell disease. To better understand and treat these diseases, researchers need a reliable way to measure how much blood flows through our bones.

In animal studies, a special scan called PET (Positron Emission Tomography) has been used successfully to measure bone blood flow. This scan uses a safe, low dose of a radioactive substance called sodium fluoride, which helps show how blood moves through the bones. However, using this method in people has been difficult in the past because older PET scanners were not sensitive enough to give accurate results.

Recently, St Thomas' Hospital in London has received two new, state-of-the-art PET scanners. These scanners can take pictures of the whole body at once and are much more sensitive than older models. They can also take images of the heart during the scan, which is important because it allows researchers to measure how much of the radioactive tracer is being delivered to the bones through the bloodstream. This is a big improvement over older, more invasive methods that required taking many blood samples.

The main goal of this pilot study is to develop a better, more reliable way to measure bone blood flow in healthy volunteers using these new PET scanners. The researchers also want to check if measuring the tracer in the heart is as good as, or better than, the previous method of taking frequent blood samples.

To do this, the researchers will invite ten healthy volunteers-men and postmenopausal women over the age of 50-to take part in our study. Each volunteer will have a one-hour PET/CT scan, which takes images from the head down to the upper thighs after a small injection of the radioactive tracer. To compare the new method with the old one, the researchers will also take five small blood samples from the volunteer's arm at different times during the scan.

The research team hope that this study will lead to better ways of studying and treating bone diseases in the future, making the process easier and less invasive for patients.

Study Overview

Detailed Description

This is a prospective single centre non-randomised exploratory pilot study. Ten healthy volunteers aged over 50 years will be recruited via the King's College London (KCL) research recruitment page and circular email sent to KCL staff. Each healthy volunteer will have a 1-hour dynamic TB-PET/CT scan from vertex to mid-thighs following a bolus injection of 90 MBq of [18F]-sodium fluoride ([18F]-NaF) to measure bone perfusion (K1) and regional bone plasma clearance (Ki). Five venous blood samples will be collected at 5, 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes after injection. These will be used to verify the left ventricle (LV) measurements of the arterial input function (AIF) from the image of the heart, and correct the whole blood measurements in the LV to measurements of plasma concentration.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

10

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

50 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Ten healthy volunteers aged over 50 years old

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 5 male and 5 female healthy volunteers aged over 50 years
  • No metabolic bone disease (e.g. osteoporosis)
  • No metastatic bone disease
  • Good venous access
  • Must be able to lie flat and remain motionless for the duration of the scan (60 minutes)
  • Good bladder control

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Over 1.85 metres (6.1 feet) in height to ensure adequate skeletal coverage
  • Over 95 kg (15 stone) in weight to ensure image quality
  • Claustrophobia
  • Uncontrolled high blood pressure
  • Presence of any metal in the body or heart pacemaker
  • Pregnant women
  • Not currently or previously been involved within the last 12 months on trials investigating other imaging methods involving ionising radiation

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: OTHER
  • Time Perspectives: PROSPECTIVE

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Healthy volunteers aged over 50 years

Will undergo 1-hour PET/CT scan

Each volunteer will have a 1-hour dynamic TB-PET/CT scan from vertex to mid-thighs following a bolus injection of 90 MBq of [18F]-sodium fluoride ([18F]-NaF) to measure bone perfusion (K1) and regional bone plasma clearance (Ki).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
To measure bone perfusion (K1) and bone plasma clearance (Ki) with [18F]-sodium fluoride TB-PET/CT at multiple sites across the whole skeleton in 10 healthy volunteers, both are measured in units of mL per min per mL.
Time Frame: 1 month

Dynamic [18F]-sodium fluoride PET/CT scans can measure both effective bone plasma flow (K1), and bone plasma clearance (Ki), the latter reflecting regional bone formation. Both are measured in units of mL per min per mL (or mL min-¹ mL-¹), which signifies the volume of plasma cleared of the tracer per minute per unit volume of tissue.

1 month

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
To develop an improved method of measuring the arterial input function (AIF) by using a volume of interest (VOI) in the left ventricle (LV) of the heart in the same 10 healthy volunteers.
Time Frame: 1 month

This is an important secondary outcome because both K1 and Ki require knowing the arterial input function (AIF), which is essentially how much tracer is available to the bone. Previously, the only accurate way of measuring this was by direct arterial blood sampling, which is an invasive procedure, and an alternative technique was to derive a semi-population input function.

However, the new scanners include the heart in the field of view enabling the AIF to be measured more reliably, and the researchers hope that this will significantly improve the measurement of bone blood flow and bone formation in the future.

1 month

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

September 23, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 31, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

October 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 25, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 1, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

October 6, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 1, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 368515
  • OPP1122 (Other Grant/Funding Number: National PET imaging platform research pilot funding (MRC))

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

This is a pilot study only in healthy volunteers

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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