7T MRI Scanner for Small Animal Imaging

描述（由申请人提供）：本提案的广泛、长期目标是通过加强临床前研究和临床研究之间的联系，改善神经系统疾病、心血管疾病、I型糖尿病和癌症患者的治疗。美国西北大学范伯格医学院的研究人员建议购买一台7 T水平30厘米口径的磁共振成像（MRI）扫描仪系统，用于对小动物进行成像。本提案中要研究的疾病代表了主要的公共卫生问题，所要求的7 T磁体将为目标疾病涉及的器官（例如前列腺、结肠、脑、心脏、胰腺）提供高分辨率成像。该成像将a）帮助量化阿尔茨海默病、多发性硬化、1型糖尿病、冠状动脉疾病和癌症的动物模型中的疾病进展;和B）确定对这些疾病的新疗法（例如染料木黄酮、小分子蛋白激酶抑制剂、T细胞调节、胰岛细胞移植、心肌祖细胞）的响应。7 T MRI系统的可用性将支持目前资助的这些疾病机制的研究，并使这些动物模型中的结局指标与临床实践中使用的结局指标联系起来。与该机构现有的较小场临床MRI相比，所要求的新系统将提供改善的信噪比，从而缩短扫描时间并提高空间分辨率。所要求的仪器的主要用户将包括专门研究神经系统疾病、心血管疾病、胰岛细胞移植和肿瘤学的高度成就的科学家。一个全面的技术，科学和行政计划，提出了管理该仪器在该机构的使用。由于类似的操作系统，在这种小动物扫描仪上进行的研究可能会转化为医学院现有的临床扫描仪。 公共卫生相关性：在所要求的设备上进行的研究是为了阐明神经系统疾病、心血管疾病、I型糖尿病和癌症的潜在机制，并测试潜在的治疗方法。最初在小动物中进行此类研究的长期目标是将开发的潜在疗法转化为未来的临床应用。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The broad, long-term objective of this proposal is to improve treatments for patients suffering from neurological diseases, cardiovascular diseases, type I diabetes, and cancer by strengthening the linkage between pre-clinical and clinical studies. Investigators at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine propose to purchase a 7T horizontal 30 cm bore magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner system to image small animals. The diseases to be studied in this proposal represent major public health problems and the requested 7T magnet will provide high resolution imaging of organs involved in target diseases (e.g. prostate, colon, brain, heart, pancreas). This imaging will a) help quantify disease progression in animal models of Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, coronary artery disease, and cancer; and b) determine response to novel therapies for these diseases (e.g. Genistein, small molecule protein kinase inhibitors, T-cell modulation, islet cell transplantation, myocardial progenitor cells). The availability of a 7T MRI system will support current funded studies of mechanisms of these diseases and enable linkage of outcome measures in these animal models with outcome measures used in clinical practice. The requested new system will provide improved signal to noise ratio, resulting in shorter scan times and improved spatial resolution, compared to existing smaller field clinical MRI already present at this institution. Major users of the requested instrument will include highly accomplished scientists who specialize in neurological diseases, cardiovascular disease, islet cell transplantation, and oncology. A comprehensive technical, scientific, and administrative plan is proposed to govern usage of this instrument at the institution. Because of similar operating systems, studies performed on this small animal scanner can potentially be translated to existing clinical scanners already present at the Medical School. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: research performed on this requested equipment is to eludicate the mechanisms underlying neurological diseases, cardiovascular disease, Type I diabetes, and cancer and to test potential therapies. The long-term goal of initially performing such research in small animals is to translate potential therapies that are developed into future clinical use.