This proposal requests funding to support the purchase of an upgraded console for the 9.4 Tesla MRI scanner in our laboratory. We propose to use these funds to install better performing console hardware with an increased number of receiver channels and the latest Paravision 5.0 software from Bruker. The upgraded console will allow state-of-the- art techniques for MR imaging and spectroscopy and offer a rich palette of powerful image evaluation and visualization tools. The need for this equipment upgrade has recently become more urgent because of the growing frequency of requests to perform cardiac MRI examinations in mice, and because of the increasing complexity of the neurological studies we aim to perform in small animal models. The 9.4T scanner in our laboratory is one of the busiest scanners at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, and runs nearly 24 hours a day. This scanner serves users (our own investigators, collaborators and outside researchers) both within the MGH/Harvard/MIT system as well as from around the greater Boston/Cambridge region. However, the existing console is outdated. It cannot load Bruker's latest release of the Paravision 5.0 software, which contains many new features and methods, and has only a single receiver channel. These deficiencies significantly limit the quality and quantity of imaging and variety of research applications for which it can be used. Upgrading this system to alleviate such limitations would greatly benefit many NIH- funded projects, as well as offer important new features to the user base.
The proposed instrument upgrade will enhance the work of many NIH-funded researchers at the MGH and other local institutions. By enhancing the quality of basic research in small animal models, the upgrade will contribute significantly to our understanding of many diseases.
