CAREER: Very Low-Field Hyperpolarized Noble Gas Magnetic Resonance Imaging

使用超极化3He和129Xe信号的alberta极低场（VLF） MRI系统将被开发，以研究人类肺部，并探索一种低成本、便携式研究和诊断工具的潜力，用于肺部疾病的检测和分期。来自这种超极化物种的极大增强的信号足够强，可以对它们所占据的气体空间进行高速成像，这使它们成为吸引磁共振探针的地方。自从PI和合作者通过获取用超极化129Xe膨胀的小鼠肺部的MR图像，发明了超极化惰性气体MRI以来，该领域在过去五年中取得了相当大的发展。特别重要的是在极低场（VLF）下，超极化惰性气体MRI可以实现高信噪比（SNR）。由于原子核的极化水平是由超极化过程决定的，并且与静态磁场无关，因此VLF MRI成为可能。VLF惰性气体核磁共振可能会带来廉价、便携的成像系统。提出了使用定制的100-200高斯电阻磁体开发VLF核磁共振系统的方案。梯度、垫片和射频线圈将被开发并连接到商用低频MRI控制台。在30cm DSV（人类肺的典型尺寸）的视野范围内，计划实现0.1 mm左右的空间分辨率。将进行初步的人体肺部影像学研究。长期目标是开发一种低成本的便携式设备，可用于各种诊所、医生办公室和养老院的肺部筛查，甚至可能用于微重力环境下的天基肺功能研究。我们提出的计划的教育部分包括四个主要要素：(i)发展面向大学前学生的拓展计划和教师培训计划；㈡在哈佛医学院医学工程中心开设关于生物医学和组织工程中成像模式的原理和使用的课程讲座；（三）培养研究生、本科生和博士后科研人员；（iv）开发一个教学模块，介绍如何将物理学的基本原理应用于激光和磁共振，并将其偶然应用于生物学。中等教育活动包括参加BWH MR部门的研讨会和系列讲座，为教育和培训基础设施做出贡献，以及建立工业实习和伙伴关系。在霍华德·休斯医学研究所的支持下，针对大学预科学生的生物医学工程推广计划和教师培训计划的发展，旨在使将成为未来科学家的年轻人更容易接触科学和科学活动。通过这些努力，教师和学生都被鼓励参加实践培训，并与他人分享他们学到的东西。在与波士顿大学的合作中，一门关于生物光子学专题的新研究生课程正在创建中，作为他们的NSF-CRCD计划的一部分，该课程将开发用于超极化氙和氦MRI的光泵浦讲座。在我们项目的研究人员和学生中，包括一些代表性不足的群体和追求科学和工程高级学位的女性。

0093448AlbertA very low-field (VLF) MRI system employing the signal from hyperpolarized 3He and 129Xe will be developed in order to investigate the human lung, and to explore the potential for a low-cost, portable research and diagnostic tool for the detection and staging of pulmonary diseases. The vastly enhanced signal from such hyperpolarized species is strong enough to permit high speed imaging of the gas-space they occupy, makes them intriguing MR probes. The field has developed considerably in the past five years, since the PI and collaborators invented hyperpolarized noble gas MRI by acquiring MR images of a mouse lung that had been inflated with hyperpolarized 129Xe. Of special importance is the high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) achievable in hyperpolarized noble gas MRI, at very low-field (VLF). VLF MRI becomes feasible since the level of polarization of the nuclei is set by the hyperpolarization process, and is independent of the static magnetic field. VLF noble gas MRI may lead to inexpensive, portable imaging systems. The development of a VLF MRI system is proposed using a custom-made resistive magnet of 100-200 Gauss. Gradient, shim, and RF coils will be developed and interfaced to a commercial low frequency MRI console. A spatial resolution on the order of 0.1 mm is planned over a field of view of 30 cm DSV, the typical size of human lungs. Preliminary human lung imaging studies will be conducted. A long term objective is the development of a low-cost portable unit that can be used for lung screening in a variety of clinics, physician's offices and nursing homes, and perhaps even for space-based pulmonary function research in microgravity environments.The education component of our proposed program contains four primary elements: (i) the development of an outreach program to precollege students and a teacher training program; (ii) the development of course lectures at the Center for Engineering in Medicine at Harvard Medical School on the principles and use of imaging modalities in biomedicine and tissue engineering; (iii) the training of graduate and undergraduate students and postdoctoral fellows as researchers; and (iv) the development of a teaching module on how basic principles of physics are applied to lasers and magnetic resonance, and can yield serendipitous applications to biology. Secondary educational activities include participation in seminar and lecture series in the MR Division at BWH, contributions to education and training infrastructure, and the establishment of industrial internships and partnerships. The development of an outreach program in biomedical engineering to precollege students and a teacher training program, supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, is designed to make science and science activities more accessible to the young people who will become future scientists. Through these efforts, teachers and students alike are encouraged to participate in hands-on training and to share what they learn with others. In a collaboration with Boston University, a new graduate course on special topics in bio-photonics is being created, as part of their NSF-CRCD program, which will develop lectures on optical pumping for hyperpolarized xenon and helium MRI. Included among researchers and students in our program's projects are under-represented groups and women pursuing advanced degrees in science and engineering.