Funding is requested for a high resolution 9.4T magnetic resonance (MR) scanner to serve and expedite in vivo animal research at the Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC). The NIH funded research programs that will exploit the MR scanner are as follows: a) Cancer imaging: tumor oxygenation and assessment of treatment response b) Neuro-imaging: Cerebral haemodynamics and Brain injury c) Cardiac imaging: Angiogenesis in the heart and function of neovasculature These research programs in Dartmouth have extensive support from NIH and its subsections for the projects above. Common denominator for these projects is that they require non-invasive imaging technology for the assessment of anatomy, physiology and biochemistry in vivo in animal models for common human diseases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) not only provides a non-invasive window to body anatomy, but at the same reveals information from central parameters of organ function, including blood flow (or perfusion), blood and tissue oxygenation (to estimate oxygen metabolism). Complemented with magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), data from central tissue metabolites, including high-energy phosphates and lactate, pH and amino acid neurotransmitters, are obtained. MRI provides also great potentials to image tissue at molecular level by using tagged target specific probes. These projects have proven translational potential.
The research projects in this proposal are dealing with several public health burdens in the US, including cancer, brain traumas and cardiovascular diseases. The requested high field MR scanner will greatly advance understanding of basic mechanisms of these common diseases. It will also greatly contribute to the efforts of improving diagnosis of these conditions and thereby, it is expected to aid planning for personalized treatment protocols. The MR scanner will expedite assessment of novel cancer and anti-ischemia treatment protocols in animal models. The requested instrument will serve as a vehicle in the effort of translating molecular medicine into the clinical settings.
