Stem cell therapies have demonstrated promising preclinical results, but very few applications have reached the clinic owing to safety and efficacy concerns. Translation would benefit greatly if stem cell survival, distribution and function could be assessed in vivo post-transplantation, particularly in patients. Advances in molecular imaging have led to extraordinary progress, with several strategies being deployed to understand the fate of stem cells in vivo using magnetic resonance, scintigraphy, PET, ultrasound and optical imaging. Here, we review the recent advances, challenges and future perspectives and opportunities in stem cell tracking and functional assessment, as well as the advantages and challenges of each imaging approach.

干细胞疗法已显示出令人鼓舞的临床前结果，但由于对安全性和功效的关注，很少有临床应用。如果可以在体内特别是患者体内评估干细胞的存活，分布和功能，那么翻译将受益匪浅。分子成像技术的进步已经取得了非凡的进步，已经采取了多种策略来利用磁共振，闪烁显像，PET，超声和光学成像技术来了解体内干细胞的命运。在这里，我们回顾了干细胞跟踪和功能评估的最新进展，挑战和未来展望以及机遇，以及每种成像方法的优势和挑战。