The proposed upgrade of an obsolete 3.35T prototype (now one-of-a-kind & often inoperable) to a new Next- Generation GE 5T SPINlab-QC multi-sample dissolution product polarizer is a single, research-only, commercially-available instrument that is justified on a shared-use basis by 16 current projects (14 NIH grants) in translational and clinical biomedical research. This S10 award is critical to enable this upgrade to state-of-the- art addressing current limitations facing these projects. This revised application is now supported by increased institutional support, strengthened Justification of Need, a well-established administrative infrastructure through the UCSF Research Resource Program?s Human Imaging Core, and the UCSF Hyperpolarized MRI Technology Resource Center. This center provides the highly experienced technical support, training, expert personnel, ancillary equipment and infrastructure for dissemination of results/techniques to make this major high-end instrumentation project optimally successful in its goal to provide state-of-the-art instrumentation to both intra- and extramural users. The 14 NIH funded (out of 16 total) research projects described in the Research Projects Section and the needs of the P41 Center to have state-of-the-art equipment for technology development, training, and dissemination, are the driving forces behind the purchase of this Next-Generation 5T SPINlab-QC polarizer upgrade to meet their needs for improved hyperpolarized MR imaging. The new polarizer will provide critically-needed expanded hyperpolarized MR imaging capabilities as well as facilitating the technology-development research to go in exciting new directions using its capability for polarizing new agents in addition to pyruvate for future human studies. The equipment will also be used for training a large number of students at UCSF either as part of formal graduate courses or research projects, as well as the training of investigators from around the world through the UCSF Hyperpolarized MRI Technology Resource Center and junior faculty supported by the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging. The multidisciplinary projects are led by investigators from 6 different departments and are investigating a wide range of human diseases (including multiple cancers, diabetes, cardiac disease, brain disorders, liver disease) using this stable-isotope MR molecular imaging technology to advance clinical research and ultimately patient care. In summary, this equipment upgrade is critically needed to remove a major bottleneck limiting this HP MRI research and will also benefit the training of students at UCSF and external investigators nationally and internationally through hands-on workshops, individual visits, web-conferences, website dissemination, and collaborative multi-site research. !
Just as MRI has become an important addition to medical imaging providing information beyond CT/X-ray, HP C-13 MRI can provide valuable isotope imaging information beyond what PET & SPECT do in a safe, fast (2min), non-radioactive addition to clinical MRI exams at a similar or lower cost to many new PET agents. The requested upgrade of an obsolete preclinical prototype DNP polarizer to a new Next-Generation GE 5T SPINlab-QC product will enable human studies with improved performance to significantly benefit 16 funded projects conducting biomedical imaging research to address unmet clinical needs for a wide range of human diseases.
