Console and gradient amplifiers for a 9.4 T vertical bore MRI/MRS system

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Funds are requested to purchase a state of the art console and gradient amplifiers for a small animal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy scanner. The new instrumentation will be interfaced to an existing vertical bore 9.4 T, 8.9 cm magnet equipped with 45 mm ID, 100 gauss/cm and 55 mm ID, 25 gauss/cm gradient tubes and a broad assortment of high resolution and imaging probes. The upgrade will provide several new capabilities including; 1) acquisition of studies employing multiple slice orientations, 2) improvements in gradient stability, reliability and reduced gradient noise, 3) enhanced signal to noise ratio and 4) a third RF channel resulting and the ability to observe up to three nuclei without changing the hardware configuration and 5) an improved user interface. The instrument will become part of the existing Small Animal Imaging Facility (SAIF) in the Department of Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania. The SAIF provides the infrastructure, administration, instrumentation and expertise necessary to perform small animal imaging, perfused cell spectroscopy and high resolution spectroscopy to the large, heavily NIH funded research community at University of Pennsylvania, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Jefferson Hospital and other nearby institutions. The instrumentation will support numerous NIH funded programs investigating; 1) the mechanisms by which the differentiating agents phenylacetate and phenylbutyrate inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells, 2) the development of the murine brain white matter anatomy using high resolution diffusion tensor imaging and computational modeling, 3) the link between low sociability and brain overgrowth and/or corpus callosum underdevelopment in BALB/cJ mice, 4) the role of the G-protein/cAMP/PKA signaling pathway in abnormal behavioral measures associated with schizophrenia using genetically modified mice, 5) the molecular strategies cancer cells use to adapt to limitations in oxygen and nutrients, and 6) the molecular, cellular, and physiological events that contribute to breast cancer progression. All of these studies will benefit from the new capabilities afforded by the requested instrumentation. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The requested magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy instrumentation will provide detailed information about the structure and chemical composition of both living and fixed tissues and cell cultures. This information is critical to the development of an understanding of disease diagnosis, progression and response to therapy. The equipment will be applied in the study of small animal models and cell cultures to advance our current understanding of such diseases as cancer, autistic spectrum disorders and schizophrenia.