7T HUMAN MR SYSTEM, ULTRA HIGH RESOLUTION: NEUROSCIENCE

这个子项目是利用由NIH/NCRR资助的共享仪器赠款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和调查员(PI)可能从另一个NIH来源获得了主要资金，因此可能会出现在其他CRISE条目中。列出的机构是用于拨款的，而不一定是用于调查人员的机构。描述(申请人提供)：MR技术的发展使生物医学研究人员在理解和治疗人类疾病方面取得了重大进展我们MR计划的主要优势领域是应用于糖尿病、癫痫和影像引导手术、精神疾病和学习障碍。我们在这些领域的进步与磁共振技术的发展齐头并进，磁共振技术专注于获得代谢流量和代谢物水平的定量图像，以及血流、血容量和新陈代谢的定量fMRI测量。所有这些测量都对磁共振灵敏度和空间分辨率提出了极高的要求。目前，人体可达到的最高分辨率和灵敏度来自7T系统。根据已发表的研究，MRSI的灵敏度可达到3倍，而定量fMRI测量的灵敏度可达到类似的增强。然而，由于不能获得全脑无失真的MRSI和fMRI，7T MR在临床研究中的应用受到了限制，这主要是由于Bo不均匀性增加的结果。例如，MR在癫痫、神经退行性疾病和图像引导的神经外科计划中的应用需要在大脑底部附近的区域(如海马体)进行高质量的MRSI和fMRI，在那里存在最严重的Bo不一致性。目前，现有的7T系统都没有在这些地区提供足够高质量的MRS或fMRI用于研究目的，更不用说外科应用了。基于我们在临床研究中开发和应用磁共振技术的丰富经验，我们强烈地感觉到，7T磁铁技术使灵敏度提高几倍，具有极大地促进该领域发展的潜力。因此，该项目的主要目标是：1)购买和安装Varian/MagneX 7T 68系统，该系统具有针对全脑动态垫片优化的梯度和垫片；2)使用动态垫片更新、Bo和B1稳健脉冲序列以及并行成像方法开发全脑和肢体的定量超高分辨率MRSI和功能磁共振成像；3)应用这项技术，使耶鲁大学在糖尿病、癫痫和影像引导神经外科、精神病学和学习障碍方面的项目继续在理解和治疗人类疾病方面取得重要进展。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Shared Instrumentation Grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the grant, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The development of MR technology has allowed biomedical researchers to make major advances in understanding and treating human disease among the major areas of strength in our MR program are applications to diabetes, epilepsy and image guided surgery, psychiatric disease, and learning disorders. Our progress in these areas has gone hand in hand with the development of MR technology focused on obtaining quantitative images of metabolic fluxes and metabolite levels, and quantitative fMRI measures of blood flow, blood volume and metabolism. All of these measurements put extreme demands on MR sensitivity and spatial resolution. At present the highest resolution and sensitivity achievable in humans is from 7T systems. Based on published studies a 3 fold sensitivity in MRSI and a similar enhancement for quantitative fMRI measures can be achieved. However the application of 7T MR to clinical research has been restricted due to the inability, primarily as a consequence of the increased Bo inhomogeneity, to obtain whole brain distortion free MRSI and fMRI. For example applications of MR to epilepsy, neurodegenerative diseases, and image guided neurosurgical planning requires high quality MRSI and fMRI in regions near the base of the brain such as the hippocampus, where the worst Bo inhomogeneity is present. At present none of the existing 7T systems have presented adequate quality MRS or fMRI in these regions for research purposes much less surgical applications. We feel strongly, based upon our extensive experience developing and applying MR technology to important questions in clinical research, that the several fold higher sensitivity made possible by 7T magnet technology has the potential of greatly advancing the field. Therefore the major goals of this project are to 1) purchase and install a Varian/Magnex 7T 68 system with gradients and shims optimized for whole brain dynamic shimming, 2) develop quantitative whole brain and limb ultra high resolution MRSI and fMRI using dynamic shim updating, Bo and B1 robust pulse sequences, and parallel imaging approaches and 3) apply this technology to allow the programs at Yale in diabetes, epilepsy and image guided neurosurgery, psychiatry, and learning disorders to continue to make important strides in the understanding and treatment of human disease.