The University of Florida (UF) requests funds to purchase a state-of-the-art whole-body 3 Tesla (3T) human magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy (MRI/S) system to support biomedical research using advanced anatomic, functional, spectroscopic, metabolic and physiologic imaging approaches. The proposed instrument will provide much needed advanced technologies that are not available on our current nine-year-old 3T MRI/S system located in the Advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy (AMRIS) Facility at UF. The current 3T scanner is the only research-dedicated 3T MRI/S instrument in the northern Florida (Gainesville-Jacksonville) area, and is technically limited relative to next generation systems. Funds will be used to acquire a state-of-the-art scanner that supports multi-band techniques for functional MRI (fMRI) and diffusion imaging (dMRI) as outlined in the Human Connectome Project, whole- body scanning, cross-compatibility with MRI/S facilities at other institutions for multi-center studies, and alignment of UF imaging with big data multi-site studies for Alzheimer?s disease, Parkinson?s disease and the NIH Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study. In addition to improving the reliability of the 3T MRI/S user facility, the new 3T scanner is expected to have enhanced technical capabilities and increased performance relative to our current system; in particular, multiband acquisition and gradients with a combined effective strength of 139 mT/m and a maximum slew rate of 346 T/m/s will enable high resolution brain studies and will increase the number of research studies the facility can support. Whole body scanning capabilities will enable needed correlative measurements in obesity, diabetes, osteoarthritis, aging and dystrophy studies. The AMRIS Facility supports a broad range of NIH-funded research projects and our technical staff supporting human MRI/S have over 45 years of experience working in MRI with specific expertise in research level scanning including fMRI, dMRI, arterial spin labeling (ASL), cardiac imaging, 1H and 31P spectroscopy, and new MR technique development. The new scanner is critical to the success of the NIH-funded research of a group of fourteen major users (M. Bishop, R. Cohen, M. Ding, R. Fillingim, T. Golde, P. Lang, S. Nixon, C. Price, M. Robinson, R. Staud, L. Sweeney, D. Vaillancourt, K. Vandenborne, G. Walter), five service cores/centers supported by NIH and VA (UL1-funded Clinical and Translational Science Institute, P30-funded Institute on Aging, P50-funded University of Florida - Mt. Sinai Medical Center Alzheimer?s Disease Research Center, U24-funded Southeast Center for Metabolomics, and VA-funded Brain Rehabilitation and Research Center), and several minor users. These user groups undertake studies that are extremely demanding from a sensitivity, resolution, speed, and stability standpoint. A number of the projects are directly relevant to the diagnosis and treatment of human disease.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy (MRI/S) is a powerful technique used to non-invasively examine the anatomy and physiology of the body in health and disease, such as measuring brain structure and function, monitoring muscle fitness, and examining heart metabolism in vivo. A rapidly increasing number of NIH-supported investigators at the University of Florida rely on MRI/S in their research studies addressing Parkinson?s disease, muscular dystrophy, aging and cognition, Alzheimer?s disease, adolescent brain cognition development, traumatic brain injury, obesity, diabetes, fatty liver disease, anxiety, and pain; we are requesting funds to purchase a state-of-the-art whole-body human MRI/S system to meet their ever- growing need for advanced MRI/S technology to support cutting-edge biomedical research. This advanced 3T MRI/S system will ensure the continued progress of the NIH-funded research pro- grams of the investigators associated with this application and a larger community of additional users who also rely on MRI/S in their studies, thus playing a vital role in advancing basic and translational research.
| Gay, Charles W; Robinson, Michael E; George, Steven Z et al. (2014) Immediate changes after manual therapy in resting-state functional connectivity as measured by functional magnetic resonance imaging in participants with induced low back pain. J Manipulative Physiol Ther 37:614-27 |
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