MRI: Acquisition of Prisma 3T MRI Upgrade

该奖项为乔治城大学的3特斯拉西门子MRI扫描仪提供了实质性升级，该扫描仪支持该地区8个不同机构的37名研究人员进行的创新神经成像研究，包括（乔治城大学，天主教大学，儿童国家医疗中心，Gallaudet大学，乔治华盛顿大学，美国大学，国家康复医院和退伍军人管理局）。这次升级将提高所获得图像的质量，并允许使用该扫描仪的研究人员利用MRI脉冲序列的最新发展，特别是为人类连接组项目开发的那些，这将为大脑功能研究提供更好的时间分辨率，更好的空间分辨率，包括更高的精度，包括轴突连接的细微差异，以及通过磁共振波谱（MRS）更好地估计代谢物浓度。这些改进不仅将支持各种研究人员，还将为来自大华盛顿大都会地区的高中生、本科生和研究生提供教育机会，该地区包括不同的种族和社会经济人口。来自大华盛顿8个不同机构的研究人员，华盛顿大都会地区使用乔治敦大学的西门子Magnetom Tim 3 T MRI扫描仪进行各种神经成像研究。其中一个研究领域集中在神经发育方面，研究了奖励处理、执行功能、自闭症、阅读和数学困难，以及空间和创造性关系推理。另一个研究领域使用这种扫描仪来更好地了解与视觉注意力，基于空间/对象的选择，体感学习和跨模态整合，感觉皮层组织和盲人跨模态可塑性相关的基本神经过程。Siemens Prisma升级通过提供两个新的射频头线圈（32通道和64通道）显著提高了该设施的能力，这大大提高了信噪比（SNR），并允许更大的扫描并行化。随着SNR的提升，研究人员将在更高的空间和时间分辨率下，在他们的功能性MRI范例中拥有更大的灵活性。此外，使用人类连接组项目脉冲序列的能力将大大提高使用基于体素的形态测定（VBM）和扩散张量成像（DTI）检测细微神经解剖差异的能力。

This award provides a substantial upgrade to Georgetown University's 3 Tesla Siemens MRI scanner, which supports the innovative neuroimaging research conducted by 37 researchers from 8 different institutions in the region including (Georgetown University, Catholic University, Children's National Medical Center, Gallaudet University, George Washington University, American University, National Rehabilitation Hospital, and the Veterans Administration). This upgrade will increase the quality of the images acquired and allow the researchers using this scanner to make use of the latest developments in MRI pulse sequences notably those developed for the Human Connectome Project, which will provide better temporal resolution for studies of brain function, better spatial resolution including greater precision with regards to subtle differences in axonal connectivity, and better estimation of metabolite concentration via magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). These improvements will support not only the various researchers but also provide educational opportunities for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students from across the greater Washington, DC metro region that encompasses a diverse ethnic and socioeconomic population.Researchers from 8 different institutions in the greater Washington, DC metro region conduct a wide variety of neuroimaging research using the Siemens Magnetom Tim 3T MRI scanner at Georgetown University. One area of research focuses on neurodevelopment with studies examining reward processing, executive function, autism, reading and math difficulties, and spatial and creative relational reasoning. Another area of research uses this scanner to better understand basic neurological processes related to visual attention, spatial/object-based selection, somatosensory learning and cross-modal integration, sensory cortical organization, and cross-modal plasticity in blind individuals. The Siemens Prisma upgrade significantly increases the capabilities of this facility by providing two new radio frequency head coils, a 32- and 64-channel, that greatly increase the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) as well as allow for greater scanning parallelization. With the boost in SNR afforded by this upgrade, investigators will have greater flexibility in their functional MRI paradigms with higher spatial and temporal resolution. In addition, the ability to use the Human Connectome Project pulse sequences will greatly improve the power to detect subtle neuroanatomic differences using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).