Novel MRI Techniques to Image Hippocampal Internal Architecture

Lawrence Ver Hoef博士是亚拉巴马大学的癫痫病学家和神经病学助理教授， 伯明翰拥有工程学本科背景和生物医学博士后研究生课程 Ver Hoef博士寻求将自己确立为一名技术翻译神经成像研究人员， MRI工程界未应用的尖端能力与特定疾病之间的差距 临床神经科学社区的成像需求，以促进合作努力。这两个高度专业化的 阿里纳斯将大大受益于一个研究人员谁是流利的两种语言谁可以连接工程能力 临床研究需要更好的工具。为了实现这一目标，Ver Hoef博士将 通过指导项目和教育课程发展他的研究能力，完成他的工程 证书，使他具备生物统计学和研究设计方面的技能，并提供管理项目的实践经验 有工程和临床成分。该项目将优化一种新的MRI技术（“3D锥”）， 高分辨率的人类海马体薄片图像，将清楚地显示正常的分层 海马内部结构（HIA）。在冠状面MRI上HIA的分化丢失被认为是一种 癫痫患者海马硬化（HS）的影像学标志。HS是一种常见的医学难治性 癫痫，但也是高度可治愈的切除手术。目前的MRI技术不一致， 来证明HIA。因此，一致地显示HIA或其异常的成像技术， 可以将某些致残的难治性癫痫患者确定为具有良好预后的手术候选者， 癫痫发作自由。该项目将利用三维锥体成像技术结合多图像 平均（以提高信噪比）和扫描间共配准（以最小化移动效应）。几 将优化特定参数以产生HIA的最佳可能差异。新技术将 与标准MRI技术进行比较，以证明其优越性。Ver Hoef博士将在 生物医学工程和临床神经成像专家。 相关性（参见说明）： 该项目将开发一种专门的MRI技术，该技术将生成零件的高分辨率图像 叫做海马体。这项技术将使我们能够检测到细微的解剖异常的 海马体，可能会在严重癫痫患者中看到，以便这些患者可以直接 手术来治愈癫痫这项技术也可能有助于研究其他疾病， 如老年痴呆症和精神分裂症。

Dr. Lawrence Ver Hoef is an epileptologist and Assistant Professor of Neurology at the Universityof Alabama at Birmingham. With an undergraduate background in engineering and post-doctoral graduate studies in biomedical engineering, Dr. Ver Hoef seeks to establish himself as a technical translational neuroimaging researcher that bridges the gap between the unapplied cutting-edge abilities of the MRI engineering community and the disease-specific imaging needs of the clinical neuroscience community to facilitatecooperative endeavors. These two highly specialized arenas would benefit greatly from a researcher who is fluent in both languages who could connect engineering abilities in need of application with clinical investigationsin need of better tools. To accomplish this goal Dr Ver Hoef will develop his research abilities through a mentored project and educational curriculum that will complete his engineering credentials, equiphim with skills in biostatistics and study design, and provide hands-on experience managing a project with engineering and clinical components. The project will optimize a novel MRI technique ("3D Cones") to generate high-resolution thin-sliced images of the human hippocampus that will clearly demonstrate the normal layered hippocampal internalarchitecture (HIA). A loss of differentiation of HIA on coronal MRI has been suggested to be an imaging halmarkof hippocampal sclerosis (HS) in epilepsy patients. HS is a common cause of medically refractory epilepsy, but is also highly remediable with resective surgery. Current MRI techniques are inconsistent and poorly able to demonstrateHIA. Therefore, an imaging technique that consistently demonstrates HIA, or abnormalities thereof, may identify certain patients with disabling, intractible epilepsy as surgical candidates with an excellent prognosis for seizure freedom. The project will utilize the 3D cones imaging technique in conjunction withmultiple-image averaging (to improve signal to noise ratio) and inter-scan co-registration (to minimize movement effects). Several specific parameters will be optimized to generate the best possible differentiation of HIA. The new technique will then be compared to standard MRI techniques to demonstrate superiority. Dr. Ver Hoef will have close mentorship under experts in both biomedical engineering and clinical neuroimaging. RELEVANCE (See instructions): This project will develop a specialized MRI technique that will generate very high resolution images of a part of the brain called the hippocampus. This technique will allow us to detect fine anatomic abnormalities of the hippocampus that may be seen in patients with severe epilepsy so that those patients can be directed to surgery to potentially cure their epilepsy. This technique may also help in research of other illnesses that nvolve the hippocampus such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia.