Imaging the Brain in Motion: The Ambulatory Micro-Dose, Wearable PET Brain Imager

对运动中的大脑进行成像：动态微剂量、可穿戴 PET 大脑成像仪

• 批准号: 9093837
• 负责人: Julie Ann Brefczynski-Lewis
• 金额: $ 48.7万
• 依托单位: WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2014-09-26 至 2018-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9093837
• 关键词: Address; Affective; Algorithms; Applications Grants; Area; Basic Science; Biological Markers; Brain; Brain imaging; Brain scan; Cell physiology; Communities; Computer Simulation; Computer software; Country; Data; Dementia; Development; Devices; Discipline of Nuclear Medicine; Dose; Electroencephalography; Electronics; Elements; Equilibrium; Freedom; Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Geometry; Goals; Grant; Health; Human; Human Activities; Human Resources; Image; Image Analysis; Imaging Techniques; Injection of therapeutic agent; Investigation; Ion Channel; Label; Lead; Logistics; Low Dose Radiation; MRI Scans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Measures; Mechanics; Mental Depression; Metabolism; Microglia; Mind; Modality; Molecular; Motion; Motor Activity; Movement; Neurobiology; Neurologic; Neurosciences; Neurotransmitters; Noise; Outcome; PET/CT scan; Participant; Performance; Persons; Play; Positioning Attribute; Positron-Emission Tomography; Process; Public Health; Radiation; Radioactive; Radiochemistry; Radiolabeled; Research; Resolution; Robotics; Safety; Scanning; Sensory Receptors; Social Interaction; Stroke; Structure; System; Technology; Testing; Thinking; Time; Tracer; Traumatic Brain Injury; Validation; Vision; Walking; Weight; Work; base; data acquisition; design; detector; follow-up; image reconstruction; imaging agent; imaging modality; imaging system; insight; light weight; meetings; multidisciplinary; neuroimaging; next generation; novel; novel marker; operation; prototype; quantitative imaging; radioligand; radiotracer; reconstruction; relating to nervous system; simulation; symposium; targeted biomarker; technology development; tool; virtual reality

 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Our vision is to design the first truly mobile molecular brain imager that can be used on healthy subjects to study the functioning of the human brain during motion. The ultimate goal is to be able to image subjects during a proverbial "walk in the park" and other natural activities. We selected PET technology as the most likely to succeed in the next decade to provide the desired functionality of such a brain imager. While MRI is an exceptionally powerful and versatile imaging modality, and there are even upright MRIs for structural brain scans, for functional fMRI scans the subjects must stay still and in horizontal position inside a narrow bore of a strong-field MRI magnet. What we propose is extremely challenging and cannot be realized without careful planning for its requirements and the approaches to achieve the desired performance. There are several major obstacles to overcome before an ambulatory use of such a brain imager can become feasible. The first challenge is that PET is a nuclear medicine modality and one needs to deal with the issue of radiation dose and safety to the ambulatory healthy subjects and to the personnel. Therefore, we have to (1) develop a strategy to substantially lower the radiation doses. We hypothesize that doses as low as 1-10% of the standard injection dose when imaging with the whole body PET/CT scanners will become possible, without adversely impacting the task-specific accuracy of imaging procedures. The second challenge is (2) availability and delivery of the appropriate radiolabeled PET imaging agents that, with the substantially increased sensitivity of the device, will be able to tag neural targets that were too low to detect with current PET technology. The third key challenge is (3) the design of the mechanics/robotics allowing comfortable and safe freedom of movement. Clearly the most critical, lowering of the radiation dose, depends on many factors, starting with the definition of the task-specific performance requirements, and optimizations through simulation and development of optimized reconstruction algorithms, through selection of the optimized detector design, and of the type of the radioactive label (C-11, O-15 vs F18, etc.). This multi-parametrical analysis can be only achieved through careful analysis and simulation, accompanied by detector component prototyping, having in mind the follow-up grant application(s) to propose development of the full prototype. The first and critically important aim of our planning grant will be to articulate clearly the need for such an ambulatory, highly sensitive PET imager and prepare a list of its applications and accompanying task- specific performances. We prepared a preliminary list justifying the validity of the ambulatory PET concept, but we need to deepen it and associate operational requirements with particular imaging tasks. We anticipate that from our planning discussions we may envision more than one design of the imaging system, as one universal system may not suffice.

 描述(申请人提供)：我们的愿景是设计第一台真正可移动的分子脑成像仪，可用于健康受试者，研究人类大脑在运动过程中的功能。最终目标是能够在俗称的“公园漫步”和其他自然活动中想象受试者。我们选择PET技术作为未来十年最有可能成功的技术，以提供这种脑成像仪所需的功能。虽然MRI是一种异常强大和多功能的成像方式，甚至有立式MRI用于结构脑扫描，但对于功能性fMRI扫描，受试者必须在强场MRI磁铁的狭窄孔内保持静止和水平位置。我们提出的建议极具挑战性，如果不认真规划其要求和实现预期绩效的方法，就不可能实现。在这种脑成像仪的非卧床使用变得可行之前，有几个主要的障碍需要克服。第一个挑战是，正电子发射计算机断层扫描是一种核医学手段，需要处理辐射剂量和对门诊健康受试者和工作人员的安全问题。因此，我们必须(1)制定一项战略，大幅降低辐射剂量。我们假设，当使用全身PET/CT扫描仪进行成像时，低至标准注射剂量的1-10%的剂量将成为可能，而不会对成像程序的特定任务的准确性产生不利影响。第二个挑战是(2)合适的放射性标记PET显像剂的可用性和交付，这种显像剂在设备的灵敏度大幅提高的情况下，将能够标记用当前PET技术无法检测到的太低的神经目标。第三个关键挑战是(3)允许舒适和安全的移动自由的机械/机器人的设计。显然，最关键的是降低辐射剂量，这取决于许多因素，从具体任务性能要求的定义开始，通过模拟和开发优化重建算法进行优化，通过选择优化的探测器设计和放射性标签的类型(C-11、O-15与F18等)进行优化。这种多参数分析只能通过仔细的分析和模拟，伴随着探测器部件原型的建立，同时考虑到后续的拨款申请(S)来提议开发完整的原型。我们计划拨款的第一个也是至关重要的目标将是清楚地阐明对这种可移动的、高灵敏度的PET成像仪的需求，并准备一份其应用和伴随的特定任务性能的清单。我们准备了一份初步清单，证明动态PET概念的有效性，但我们需要深化它，并将操作要求与特定的成像任务联系起来。我们预计，从我们的规划讨论中，我们可能会设想不止一种成像系统的设计，因为一个通用系统可能不够用。

项目成果

Development and Design of Next-Generation Head-Mounted Ambulatory Microdose Positron-Emission Tomography (AM-PET) System.

• DOI: 10.3390/s17051164
• 发表时间: 2017-05-19
• 期刊: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
• 作者: Melroy S;Bauer C;McHugh M;Carden G;Stolin A;Majewski S;Brefczynski-Lewis J;Wuest T
• 通讯作者: Wuest T