“…Unfortunately, in recent decades, the population of adolescents and young adults with T2DM is increasing [ 159 ], which highlights the urgency of early diagnosis. Although conventional diabetes diagnostic indicators such as fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c are simple and practicable, they do not provide the specificity to distinguish pathways related to pancreatic β-cell mass destruction or dysfunction [ 160 , 161 ]. Noninvasive imaging tools (such as PET and MRI) and novel biomarkers can provide abundant pathological characteristics about β-cells [ 162 , 163 , 164 , 165 , 166 ] or related diagnostic information [ 140 , 167 , 168 , 169 , 170 , 171 , 172 , 173 ], which may help improve monitoring disease progress and severity, support the development of diabetes management strategies, evaluate and even guide drug development [ 174 , 175 ].…”