MRI: Acquisition of Biplanar Digital Videofluoroscopy for X-ray Reconstruction of Moving Morphology

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An award is made to The University of Chicago to acquire and install a biplanar videofluoroscopy system that uses X-rays to measure 3-dimensional movements of the inside of animals through a method called X-ray Reconstruction of Moving Morphology (XROMM). XROMM generates 3D measurements and animations of biological movement by integrating 3D movement data collected using bi-planar digital videofluoroscopy with CT scan-based reconstructions of animal anatomy. XROMM makes it possible to measure movements of internal skeletal elements to which external markers cannot be attached without disrupting animal function, to study internal mechanics of small animals, such as mice, rats, and songbirds which are too small for external markers, to study animals that will only behave in optically opaque environment, such as in the dark, under soil, in water and/or in structurally complex environments, and to image internal soft tissue structures, such as muscles. The ability to make these measurements will enhance and expand research and training in integrative and evolutionary biomechanics, neuromechanics and neuroscience in the Chicago area. In particular, XROMM will enable innovations in the following areas: (1) Comparisons of locomotion and feeding movements of fish and amphibians in complex aquatic and terrestrial environments, and their relationship to evolutionary changes in form at the origin of tetrapods,(2) the diversity, complexity and control of 3D jaw and tongue movements during feeding in living mammals, and their relationship to changes in the structure of the feeding system during the origin and radiation of mammals, and (3) the role of the brain in control of 3D movements of a range of musculoskeletal organs, including jaws, tongues, eye muscles, and hands. This research equipment will have multiple impacts beyond research, including teaching and training, public outreach and exhibit development, robotics and applied biomechanics. The XROMM instrumentation will provide postdoctoral researchers, graduate and undergraduate students with access to state-of-the-art research equipment in a dynamic intellectual environment that will make possible novel approaches to integrative analyses of animal movement. Graduate programs with access to XROMM will include: at the University of Chicago, the Graduate Program in Integrative Biology, the Committee on Evolutionary Biology, the Committee on Computational Neuroscience and the Committee on Medical Physics; at Northwestern University, the graduate programs in Biomedical Engineering, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and Physiology; and the inter-institution, interdisciplinary NSF IGERT program, Integrative Training in Motor Control and Movement. Faculty and graduate students in these programs are actively involved in outreach locally (Sisters 4 Science; Global Village Science Project; Brain Day), and at national and international levels (Outreach programs in Fiji, New Guinea; Encyclopedia of Life Project; Biomechanics Exhibit, Field Museum of Natural History). The XROMM instrumentation will significantly augment these efforts by generating visually compelling animations of animal movement for presentation and online distribution. In making possible novel research into the role of the brain in control of movement, this equipment will contribute to understanding of motor control disorders including Parkinson's Disease and stroke.