Seven tesla preclinical MRI/S scanner for structural, functional and molecular imaging

佛罗里达大学（UF）申请资金购买最先进的临床前7特斯拉（7 T）磁场

The University of Florida (UF) requests funds to purchase a state-of-the-art preclinical 7 Tesla (7 T) magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy (MRI/S) system to support biomedical research using advanced anatomic, functional, spectroscopic, metabolic and physiologic imaging approaches. The proposed instrument will provide much needed advanced technologies that are not available on our current aged and technologically-obsolete preclinical 4.7 T MRI/S system located in the Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy (AMRIS) Facility at UF. The AMRIS Facility is uniquely positioned as part of both the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and the McKnight Brain Institute. It supports MRI and in vivo spectroscopy development and applications at ultra-high fields (led by Marcelo Febo, Tom Mareci, Matt Merritt, and Glenn Walter) as well as translational research in neuroimaging of cognitive function and disease (including the preclinical work of Jose Abisambra, Sara Burke, Eduardo Candelario-Jalil, Tom Foster, Todd Golde, Catherine Kaczorowski, Duane Mitchell, Barry Setlow, Malu Tansey, Shahab Vadhat, David Vaillancourt, Kevin Wang, and Lakiesha Williams), muscular and cardiac imaging associated with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (including the preclinical work of Sean Forbes, Lee Sweeney, and Glenn Walter), and in vivo measurements of metabolism and its impacts in disease (Charlie Khemtong and Matt Merritt). This instrument will provide an important bridge between our clinical research program at 3 T and our high-field basic research program utilizing our existing 11.1 T/40 cm and 17.6 T/8.9 cm MRI/S systems. Our existing preclinical systems (the 11.1 T and aged 4.7 T systems) support 21 NIH-funded research projects, with 17 of them (from 11 major users and four minor users) able to maximally benefit from the acquisition of the proposed 7 T system and four of them (minor users) taking advantage of field-dependent measurement capabilities. The proposed 7 T MRI/S system will (i) offer optimal user accessibility for non-expert users routinely using MRI/S protocols in their research, (ii) allow maximal research support by enabling us to balance the usage and configurations of our MRI/S systems, (iii) significantly improve sensitivity and resolution compared to our existing 4.7 T system, and (iv) provide an optimal field for translational research integrating preclinical disease model studies with clinical studies in humans.