3T MRI SCANNER GRADIENT AND RF UPGRADE: NEUROSCIENCE, DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY

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(由申请者提供)：该提案请求资金支持购买乔治敦大学功能和分子成像中心的西门子Trio 3特斯拉核磁共振系统的重大升级。这一新设备将在更安静的操作环境中实现更快速的结构成像和更灵敏的功能成像，从而显著增强我们目前的研究项目。现有系统最初由乔治敦大学医学中心资助，已作为核心设施运行了两年，以支持NIH资助的一些研究项目，这些项目调查与各种医疗条件相关的大脑功能变化，包括发育障碍、代谢障碍、痴呆症和脑血管疾病。拟议的设备采购将对成像系统的各个部分进行广泛的改进，并将显著提高该系统的能力，包括：(1)扫描仪噪声降低30分贝以上；(2)由于射频线圈设计的改进，系统信噪比提高100%以上；(3)梯度性能显著提高，能够更快速地获取扩散张量图像数据；(4)并行图像采集子系统的扩展大大减少了结构成像所需的时间。这些改进一起将导致整个系统功能的实质性进步，使更快速的结构、功能和代谢研究成为可能。特别是，减少成像时间和扫描仪噪声非常重要，因为该系统支持大量的儿科研究。

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): This proposal requests funds to support the purchase of a major upgrade to the Siemens Trio 3 Tesla MRI system at the Georgetown University Center for Functional and Molecular Imaging. This new equipment will significantly enhance our current research projects by enabling more rapid structural imaging and more sensitive functional imaging in a much quieter operational environment. The existing system, which was initially funded by the Georgetown University Medical Center, has operated for two years as a core facility in support of a number of NIH funded research projects investigating alterations in brain function associated with a wide range of medical conditions, including developmental disorders, metabolic disorders, dementia, and cerebrovascular disease. The proposed equipment purchase incorporates a wide range of improvements to various parts of the imaging system and will provide a significant increase in this system's capabilities including: (1) an over 30dB decrease in scanner noise, (2) an over 100% increase in the system signal-to-noise ratio resulting from improvements in the radiofrequency coil design, (3) a significant increase in gradient performance, allowing more rapid acquisition of diffusion tensor image data and (4) a significant decrease in the time required for structural imaging, resulting from the expansion of the parallel image acquisition subsystem. Together these improvements will result in a substantial advance in overall system functionality, enabling more rapid structural, functional and metabolic studies. In particular, the reduction in imaging time and scanner noise is of great importance due to the large number of pediatric studies supported by the system.