Patent ID: 8862201

Claim:
An in-vivo imaging system comprising: an animal capsule which includes: an animal bed configured to receive an animal subject; physiological sensors; heaters; anesthesia cones; a single cover which covers the animal bed, the physiological sensors, the heaters, and the anesthesia cones; and a mechanical interface; a first imaging scanner configured to receive the animal capsule and acquire in-vivo imaging data concurrently of the animal subjects located in the animal capsule and in an imaging region of the first imaging scanner; a second imaging scanner that is mobile relative to the first imaging scanner, the second imaging scanner being positionable by a user and configured to receive the animal capsule and acquire in-vivo imaging data of the animal subjects located in the animal capsule concurrently; one or more computers programmed to reconstruct the acquired in-vivo imaging data from the first and second imaging scanners into image representations of the animal subject located in the animal capsule; a preparation station at which the animal subject is prepared for and recovers from imaging in the first and second imaging scanners, the preparation station and the first and second imaging scanners each having a uniform docking port to which the mechanical interface of the animal capsule is docked during preparation, imaging, and recovery; a display on which vital signs of the animal subject in the preparation station and the first and second imaging scanners are displayed; a research workstation including: an electronic interface which receives the image representations of the animal subject located in the animal capsule, a memory which stores at least one study which tests a hypothesis related to the image representations of the animal subject located in the animal capsule, and the one or more computers are further programmed to: create a new study to test a hypothesis related to the image representation of the animal subject located in the animal capsule, or modify an existing study to test the hypothesis related to image representations of the animal subject located in the animal capsule.