Development of the Human Dynamic Neurochemical Connectome Scanner

项目摘要 我们寻求支持，以开发和建造与下一代7特斯拉磁共振(MR)兼容 显著提高时空分辨率的正电子发射断层扫描(PET)脑扫描仪 (HSTR-BrainPET)。PET和MRI是目前用于研究的两种最强大的成像手段 人类的大脑。最近，能够同时采集PET和MR全身数据的扫描仪在 人体受试者已经成为商业上可用的。然而，没有同等的专用磁头设备 以满足研究人员和临床医生的需求，专注于大脑和 出于此目的，全身设备的性能相当有限。更重要的是，尽管目前的PET 技术通过广泛的神经化学靶标探针实现高分子灵敏度，PET STEST 缺乏在可与功能流程相媲美的时间尺度上跟踪动态变化的能力。我们的Main 目标是构建一种具有非常高灵敏度的与MR兼容的PET相机，以实现真正的动态PET成像 大脑神经传递的。第一批与MR兼容的Brain PET原型之一安装在Martinos 该中心于2008年建立，当时人类PET/MR成像还处于初级阶段。在与西门子密切合作后 为了解决剩余的技术挑战，原理验证PET/MR研究证明 这一新的成像方式的优势和潜力被发挥出来。十年后，一种新型的光子 探测器技术已经达到成熟的水平，使我们能够构建下一代集成 具有显著提高的时空分辨率的系统。我们建议解决硬件和 构建7-T MR兼容PET技术的软件挑战专门为延长时间而构建 PET的窗口降到只有几秒钟。此外，空间分辨率的大幅提高将 还允许对无法用当前最先进技术解析的皮质亚结构和核进行成像 设备。具体地说，我们建议：(1)建立HSTR-BrainPET插入物的硬件部件， 将其与7-T磁共振扫描仪集成，并对组合装置进行了表征；(2)PET成像软件的实现 适应我们所处的非常规几何的数据采集、处理和图像重建 提出：(3)将集成扫描仪应用于神经化学事件和大脑的动态评估 健康受试者的激活。 好了！

Project Summary We seek support to develop and build the next generation 7-Tesla magnetic resonance (MR)-compatible positron emission tomography (PET) brain scanner with dramatically improved spatiotemporal resolution (HSTR-BrainPET). PET and MRI are two of the most powerful imaging modalities currently in use for studying the human brain. Recently, scanners capable of simultaneous PET and MR whole-body data acquisition in human subjects have become commercially available. However, there is no equivalent dedicated head device on the market to address the needs of the researchers and clinicians focusing on the brain and the performance of whole-body devices is rather limited for this purpose. More importantly, although current PET technology achieves high molecular sensitivity with a broad set of probes for neurochemical targets, PET still lacks the capability to track dynamic changes in a time scale comparable to functional processes. Our main goal is to build an MR-compatible PET camera with very high sensitivity to enable truly dynamic PET imaging of brain neurotransmission. One of the first MR-compatible brain PET prototypes was installed at the Martinos Center in 2008 when human PET/MR imaging was in its infancy. Following a close collaboration with Siemens to address the remaining technical challenges, proof-of-principle PET/MR studies demonstrating the advantages and potential of this novel imaging modality were performed. A decade later, a new type of photon detector technology has reached a level of maturity that would allow us to build the next generation integrated system with dramatically improved spatiotemporal resolution. We propose to address the hardware and software challenges in building 7-T MR-compatible PET technology purpose-built to extend the temporal window of PET down to just a few seconds. Additionally, the substantial improvement in spatial resolution will also allow for imaging of cortical substructures and nuclei that cannot be resolved with current state-of-the-art devices. Specifically, we propose to: (1) Build the hardware components of the HSTR-BrainPET insert, integrate it with the 7-T MR scanner and characterize the combined device; (2) Implement the software for PET data acquisition, processing and image reconstruction adapted to the non-conventional geometry we are proposing; (3) Apply the integrated scanner to dynamic assessment of neurochemical events and brain activation in healthy human subjects. !