The purpose of this application is to seek funding for purchasing a 9.4T dedicated small animal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. Recently, extensive efforts have been devoted to the development of non-invasive imaging methods for offering insights into the biological systems, including computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography, single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and optical imaging. Among these modalities, MR is definitively the method of choice for providing superb soft tissue contrast, allowing for the investigation of subtle structural abnormalities. In addition, since MR is completely non-invasive, repeated measurements are readily available without worrying about radiation effects so that animals can be studied longitudinally. This is likely to substantially reduce the sample size while achieving a sufficient power. Although small animal imaging can be conducted independent of the field strength, the available signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is proportional to the field strength as well as the spatial resolution. For example, in order to obtain high-resolution small animal images with a sufficiently high SNR, the required data acquisition time is about 36 times longer at 1.5T when compared to that at 9.4T, practically impossible for in vivo small animal imaging. Therefore, in order to obtain high quality and high-resolution small animal images, a 9.4T system is requested in this application. Such a system is likely to have profound implications for a wide variety of research projects and greatly enhance the research capability of the investigators at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The research projects listed in our application include cancer-related projects such as brain tumor and colorectal cancers, neurodegenerative, cardiovascular, cerebral vascular, and neurological diseases. All of these projects currently require sacrificing the animals and are unable to follow each animal longitudinally. Therefore, one of the immediate benefits of the 9.4T scanner is to offer insights into the biological system non-invasively, allowing longitudinal studies. In addition, through the utilization of MR spectroscopy as well as novel imaging methods, functional information is also readily available with the requested MR scanner. Therefore, there are not doubts that the requested 9.4T scanner will contribute substantially to the biological research at UNC-Chapel Hill. Finally, establishing a small animal imaging center is the highest priority at UNC-Chapel Hill. We have recently devised a CT and SPECT scanners for small animal imaging. The requested 9.4T MR scanner will definitively play a vital role and substantially strengthen our ability to establish a small animal-imaging center at UNC-Chapel Hill.
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