## 5 Conclusions  
This study offers valuable insights to optimize the parameters for \({}^{18}\)F point source tracking in awake rat PET imaging and establishes a methodology for determining the appropriate marker activity levels relative to rat-injected activity. These levels are scanner-dependent, contingent on sensitivity and resolution. Focusing on the 6R-SuperArgus scanner, we found that random corrections are of great importance and that combining these random correction techniques with carefully selected motion detection and correction parameters ensures comparable image quality to anesthetized acquisitions. By selecting coincidences during periods of no-quick rat motion (approximately 70-80% of acquisition time), we can produce high-quality brain images with only minor resolution reduction, yielding minimal disparities compared to anesthetized rat studies. In summary, we demonstrate that appropriately dosed \({}^{18}\)F point markers can facilitate motion detection and compensation in awake rat PET studies, emphasizing the importance of tailoring the approach to study-specific conditions for image comparability with sedated rat studies.  
Software (F.A.-V., P.G., J.M.U. and J.L.H.); data and resources (J.J.V. and M.D.); writing and reviewing (all authors). All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This work was supported by the Spanish Government (FASCINA PID2021-126998 OB-100, NEWMBI CPP2021-008751, 3 PET PDC2022-133057-I00), Comunidad de Madrid (ASAP-CM, S2022/BMD-7434), and the Recovery, Resilience, and Transformation Plan financed by the European Union through Next Generation EU funds. This work was also supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation (Project MIA.2021.M02.0005 TARTAGLIA, from the Recovery, Resilience, and Transformation Plan financed by the European Union through Next Generation EU funds). TARTAGLIA takes place under the R&D Missions in Artificial Intelligence program, which is part of the Spain Digital 2025 Agenda and the Spanish National Artificial Intelligence Strategy. [PERSON] also acknowledges support from the Margarita Salas Fellowship, CT18/22 at Complutense University of Madrid, funded by the European Union-Next-GenerationUE funds.  
All experimental procedures have been performed in compliance with the European Communities Council Directive 2010/63/EU and submitted for approval by the Institutional Animal Care and Use and Ethics Committee of the Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Maranon (HGUGM), supervised by the Comunidad de Madrid according to the Annex X of the RD 53/2013. The subjects were kept at the animal housing facilities of the Unidad de Medicina y Cirugia Experimental (UMCE-HGUGM) in Madrid, Spain.  
Not applicable.  
Figure 10: Rat head study with registered CT image in the 6R-SuperArgus scanner. On the **left**, sagittal and coronal views of a rat in both states, awake and under anesthesia. On the **right**, the profile of the yellow dashed line is shown.  
Data Availability Statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.  
We thank [PERSON], [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] from the SEDECAL company for granting access to the reference machine data and providing experimental support. We also thank [PERSON], [PERSON], and [PERSON] from the Laboratory of Medical Imaging (LIM) for the handling of the animals. The authors declare no conflict of interest.