SUSCEPTIBILITY CONTRAST IN NMR IMAGING

本项目的总体目标是了解和利用 微观磁化率变化的宏观效应 核磁共振成像。 微观 局部磁场的变化可以产生 NMR图像对比度。我们试图从数量上理解一个 这种敏感性对比的广泛来源： 靶向纳米级超顺磁性粒子的分布; 脱氧血红蛋白在心脏血管内外的作用 血管系统;以及使用这些现象来量化非 有创性地测量了体内血管尺寸的分布。 我们将联合收割机 蒙特卡罗随机游走模拟和实验研究 动物模型，以定义和探索我们的 对敏感性对比的理解，以及我们的能力， 将这种理解用于生理测量。

The overall goal of this project is to understand and exploit the macroscopic effects of microscopic susceptibility variation in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) imaging. Microscopic variations in local magnetic fields can produce large changes in NMR image contrast. We seek to understand quantitatively a broad range of sources of this susceptibility contrast: effects of the distribution of targettable, nano-sized superparamagnetic particles; intra- and extravascular effects of deoxyhemoglobin in cardiac vasculature; and the use of these phenomena for quantifying non- invasively the distribution of vessels size in vivo. We combine Monte Carlo random walk simulations and experimental studies in animal models in order to define and probe both our understanding of susceptibility contrast, as well as our ability to exploit this understanding for physiological measurement.