The UK7T Network: developing the ultra-high field MRI platform for biomedical research.

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Ultra-high field (UHF) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an area of intensive international research, representing the cutting edge of biomedical imaging in human subjects. 7T scanners have evolved significantly over the last decade as they undergo the transition from bespoke research systems to turn-key clinical research tools, and are now poised to deliver a range of vanguard translational applications. The MRC recently recognised the strategic importance of UHF research to the future of biomedical imaging by investing in expanded 7T capability across the UK through the Clinical Research Infrastructure Initiative (CRII). As result of the CRII, and additional governmental and institutional funding, the number of 7T scanners in the UK will increase from two to five by 2016. With this enhancement of national infrastructure there will be an accompanying shift in focus in UHF MR research from technical development to clinical application. These developments reflect the growing consensus that widespread translational application of UHF MR is on the horizon, and that the UK is well placed to play a major role in realising this goal. Success in this regard will require the UK's five 7T sites (Cambridge, Cardiff, Glasgow, Nottingham and Oxford) to work together to tackle the challenges associated with moving to clinical applications of UHF MR. We therefore propose to establish a UK7T Network that will share expertise, build capacity, and develop harmonized approaches to image data acquisition, sharing and analysis that can be deployed in multi-site, clinical studies. Once established, the UK7T Network will serve as a platform for future UK-wide, collaborative research programmes in 7T magnetic resonance. The proposed Partnership Grant will allow us to meet the following objectives in initiating the UK7T Network.1) We will increase the level of expertise in UHF magnetic resonance that the UK 7T sites can call upon, by sharing the experience that has been built up at the two established 7T sites, training a cohort of postdoctoral researchers and delivering a programme of targeted UHF training workshops. 2) We will organise a series of UHF symposia and workshops, establish a Network Advisory Committee and open up access to 7T scanning for pilot studies, to ensure that the wider community of researchers in the UK who develop and apply MR have the opportunity to exploit the UK's investment in 7T infrastructure. 3) We will produce a set of optimised 7T protocols for brain imaging that can be used by all of the 7T sites. These will include: (i) relatively straightforward anatomical and functional brain imaging methods that can applied quickly; (ii) more advanced methods, such as diffusion imaging and arterial spin labelling, that require additional development work; (iii) standardised quality assurance protocols that can be used to maintain a high level of scanner performance at all sites. 4) We will work with the Dementias Platform UK's national image sharing and analysis platform to develop the capability to share and aggregate data acquired across the UK7T Network sites, and to develop analysis pipelines that are optimised for 7T data. 5) We will demonstrate that the UK7T Network can act as a platform for large-scale multi-site studies by evaluation of two demonstrator cohorts: (i) a core data-set of high-resolution anatomical brain images from 1000 healthy adults across the age lifespan, including at least 100 data-sets from healthy subjects in the 50-80 years age range; (ii) a pilot clinical study of twenty five, early-stage Alzheimer's disease patients. 6) We will establish a robust UK7T Network management structure that will support the development and exploitation of the UK's UHF infrastructure, through the period of the Partnership Grant and beyond.