Application Procedure, Scanning Time

If you intend to perform small animal scans at the Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (NMMI), the following guidelines apply:

 

A. Investigators who are not familiar with microPET, microSPECT or microCT are advised to consult the location manager (ing. J.W.A. Sijbesma) or another member of the local team before drafting a research protocol (see Procedure of Access).

 

B. Submit your research proposal to NMMI before you send it to the Animal Experiments Committee (DEC). Send the draft to the secretary of the local team:

 

a.van.waarde ngmb.umcg.nl

 

Please use the form supplied on the DEC website to write your text. In the case of protocols which involve specimens of tissue rather than living animals, send us a brief research proposal (less than 1 A4-page). Staff members of NMMI will examine the proposal from a radiochemical imaging and data analysis perspective. They can request that the protocol is modified to make its execution more practicable and to ensure that meaningful data are acquired, see the following document about protocol routing. The department of NMMI will charge tariffs for any scan you make (€150 for a microPET, €25 for a microCT and €25 for a microSPECT scan). You must complete a budget estimate form and send it to NMMI together with your research proposal.

Only AFTER approval by the NMMI staff, your proposal can be submitted to the DEC. Protocols lacking the approval of NMMI will NOT be carried out, although they may be OK from an animal ethics perspective.

 

C. When approval of the DEC has been obtained, (i) a copy of the final text of the research proposal ( "DEC aanvraag") , (ii) a copy of the approval letter of the DEC ("DEC beschikking") and (iii) in the case of research with genetically modified organisms, a copy of the appropriate GGO license should be sent by regular mail to the following address:

 

Dr. Aren van Waarde

Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging

University Medical Center Groningen

University of Groningen

Hanzeplein 1

9713 GZ Groningen

 

Dutch law dictates that animal experiments cannot be carried out unless the approval of an independent ethics committee has been obtained; personnel should work as described in the final version of the DEC protocol. Deviations of that protocol are considered a CRIME and can be punished with fines or imprisonment. Therefore, NMMI cannot carry out ANY animal experiment without having documents (i) and (ii) on file. Document (iii) is only necessary in the case of research with genetically modified organisms.

Scanning is impossible unless these three documents are in our possession.

 

D. After the three documents have been submitted, a request for microPET (and/or micro-CT) scans can be made by sending a completed request form by e-mail to the location manager.

 

e-mail address

j.w.a.sijbesma ngmb.umcg.nl 

 

Indicate at which dates you would like to make scans, the number of scans, the number of animals per scan, the radiopharmaceutical which should be injected and the maximal volume of tracer solution per animal (usually < 0.3 ml for mice, < 1 ml for rats). We will answer you by e-mail and inform you at which date(s) you can make your scans. Only after the dates have been approved by NMMI can you order animals. Abide by this rule in order to avoid that animals cannot be scanned in time and have to be terminated. Please note that radiopharmaceutical production for microPET scans is dependent on the laboratory schedule for patient scans. The exact hour of a microPET scan is known not earlier than the day before scanning !.

 

E. Please note, that data analysis is the responsibility of the investigator. The department of NMMI can give advice and training at an early stage of your research project but the NMMI staff is not responsible for the conclusions which you draw from your data. Note also that the NMMI can give only limited biotechnical assistance. For complex research protocols, it may be necessary to make arrangements with staff members of the "Centrale Dienst Proefdieren" (CDP).

 

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