Magnetic Resonance Systems Development

磁共振系统开发

• 批准号: RGPIN-2014-06602
• 负责人: Chronik, Blaine
• 金额: $ 2.11万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=612321
• 关键词: Magnetic; Resonance; Systems; Development

The problem we are addressing is easy enough to understand: many people need permanently or semi-permanently implanted medical devices (e.g. pacemakers), and many of these people will need an MR scan at some point in their lives. Because most standard medical devices either cease to operate within an MRI system or present a danger to the subject when within the MR environment, these people will not be eligible to receive an MRI. This effectively results in a lower standard of care for subjects with implanted medical devices. The federal government and the provinces have made massive investments in medical imaging infrastructure, particularly in MRI. But these past MRI investments, exceeding $150 million, have not translated into a clear advantage for the medical device industry. This is due to the fact that MR-compatible medical device development is a highly complex problem whose solution requires access to a dedicated facility and appropriate expertise, which is currently absent in Canada. This project ultimately aims to improve the lives of Canadians by facilitating the development of safer, more advanced medical devices for use within safer, more advanced MRI systems. The MR environment is especially challenging for medical devices for several reasons. The electromagnetic environment is both highly complex and extreme. Static magnetic fields thousands of times stronger than Earth’s magnetic field are present. Spatial gradients of the static magnetic fields result in massive forces and torques on even slightly magnetic materials and objects. Strong time-varying (kHz, or “audio frequency”) gradient fields result in heating of conductive devices, electromagnetic interference, and kHz mechanical vibrations and torques. Finally, the radiofrequency (RF) electric and magnetic fields are much more intense than anything humans or devices are normally exposed to. Exposure to RF fields primarily results in significant device heating. RF electromagnetic interference can also be a problem in control and communication circuits. We are proposing to establish a comprehensive program for the research and development of MR-compatible medical devices and MR technology more generally. We already have an unrivaled installation of MR scanners, across all relevant field strengths (from the dominant clinical field strengths of 1.5T and 3T, to the emerging 7T systems for human use, of which we have the only installation in the country). In order for us to be a comprehensive “one-stop-shop” for development and testing of MR-compatible medical devices and technology, we need the additional specialized capacity to: (1) recreate those aspects of the MR system that are hypothesized to affect any given medical device, but under the controlled, reproducible conditions of the laboratory; (2) make careful, reproducible measurements of device operation and reaction to these laboratory exposure environments; (3) validate the results in the actual MR systems of importance. In this application we are proposing to train 6 graduate students and 10 undergraduates in the general area of magnetic resonance imaging, and more specifically in the areas of MR systems development and MR compatible medical device development.

我们正在解决的问题很容易理解：许多人需要永久或半永久植入医疗设备（例如起搏器），其中许多人在生命中的某个时候需要进行MR扫描。由于大多数标准医疗器械在MRI系统内停止运行或在MR环境中对受试者构成危险，因此这些人没有资格接受MRI。这实际上导致植入医疗器械的受试者的护理标准较低。 联邦政府和各省在医学成像基础设施方面进行了大量投资，特别是在MRI方面。但是，过去超过1.5亿美元的MRI投资并没有转化为医疗器械行业的明显优势。这是因为MR兼容医疗器械的开发是一个高度复杂的问题，其解决方案需要获得专门的设施和适当的专业知识，而这在加拿大目前尚不存在。该项目的最终目的是通过促进开发更安全，更先进的医疗设备，用于更安全，更先进的MRI系统，改善加拿大人的生活。 由于几个原因，MR环境对于医疗器械尤其具有挑战性。电磁环境是高度复杂和极端的。静磁场比地球磁场强数千倍。静磁场的空间梯度导致即使是轻微磁性的材料和物体上也会产生巨大的力和扭矩。强时变（kHz或“音频”）梯度场会导致导电器械发热、电磁干扰以及kHz机械振动和扭矩。最后，射频（RF）电场和磁场比人类或设备通常暴露的任何东西都要强烈得多。暴露于射频场主要导致器械显著发热。RF电磁干扰也可能是控制和通信电路中的问题。 我们建议建立一个全面的研究和发展计划， MR兼容医疗器械和MR技术的更广泛应用。我们已经在所有相关场强（从占主导地位的临床场强1.5T和3 T，到新兴的人类使用的7 T系统，我们在该国拥有唯一的安装）中安装了无与伦比的MR扫描仪。为了使我们成为开发和测试MR兼容医疗设备和技术的综合性“一站式商店”，我们需要额外的专业能力： (1)重建MR系统的那些方面，假设这些方面会影响任何给定的 医疗器械，但在实验室受控、可重现的条件下; (2)仔细、可重复地测量器械操作和对这些器械的反应 实验室暴露环境; (3)验证结果在实际MR系统中的重要性。 在本申请中，我们建议在磁共振成像的一般领域，更具体地说，在MR系统开发和MR兼容医疗器械开发领域，培养6名研究生和10名本科生。