Funds are requested to purchase a state of the art console and gradient amplifiers for a small animal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. The new instrumentation will be interfaced to an existing horizontal bore 4.7 T, 50 cm magnet equipped with 39 cm ID, 4 gauss/cm and 12 cm ID, 25 gauss/cm gradient tubes. The console will provide several new capabilities including; 1) the ability to perform parallel acquisition techniques resulting in significant reductions in data acquisition time and improved temporal resolution in dynamic contrast studies, 2) acquisition of studies employing multiple slice orientations, 3) improvements in gradient stability and reliability, 4) enhanced signal to noise ratio and 5) an improved user interface. The instrument will become part of the Small Animal Imaging Facility (SAIF) in the Department of Radiology at the University of Pennsylvania. The SAIF provides the infrastructure, administration, instrumentation and expertise necessary to perform small animal imaging to the large, heavily NIH funded research community at University of Pennsylvania, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Jefferson Hospital and other nearby institutions. The instrumentation will support numerous NIH funded programs investigating; 1) the therapeutic benefits of stem cell therapy for myocardial infarction, 2) the mechanisms by which phenylacetate and phenylbutyrate inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells, 3) somatic gene transfer to the central nervous system and neural stem cells in animal models of human lysosomal storage diseases, 4) neuroanatomical differences in a mouse model of schizophrenia, 5) acidification of melanoma xenografts 6) response to therapy of non- hodgkins lymphoma, 7) assessment of arthritis, 8) the role of cyclooxygenase metabolism in vascular restructuring following vascular injury and 9) novel contrast agents for early detection of pancreatic cancer in mouse models All of these studies will benefit from the new capabilities afforded by the requested instrumentation. ? ? The study of small animal models of human diseases continues to play a central role in the development of new therapies. The utilization of non-invasive radiological imaging techniques, particularly MRI, allows for longitudinal study of the disease thus reducing the number of animals needed and giving insight into the evolution of the disease. The requested instrumentation will expand the capabilities of the existing instrumentation improving both the quality of the data generated and improve the throughput of the instrument. ? ? ?
