This is a multiuser equipment grant application for a Siemens Prisma Fit upgrade to the existing Magnetom 3T TIM Trio MR scanner in the MRISC at the University of Kentucky. Funding to support this upgrade is being requested because of the significant advantages of the Prisma system for biomedical research particularly for a group of productive, NIH-funded investigators involved in neuroscience research. The Prisma system will be integral to maintaining and expanding the research program of this group of investigators. Among the many advantages of the new instrument the most significant include the improved magnetic field gradient system, (higher amplitude and improved duty cycle) which will enable studies of white matter structure in a detail which is unavailable on the current Trio system. The upgrade will include an improved radiofrequency (RF) system which includes a doubling of the number of RF receive channels. The resulting higher signal-to-noise and higher resolution images will enable newer insights into brain degeneration and remodeling. The parallel transmit system on the Prisma will improve the homogeneity of excitation and enable 2D selective excitation for reduced FOV imaging. A state-of-the-art computer system and programming environment also included in the upgrade will facilitate enhanced collaboration with other biomedical researchers and a path to regular system modernization. The PI and multiple co-PIs, which form the Major Users Group on this application, have funded programs ranging from fundamental studies in neuroscience to clinical neuroscience research programs. Their research will significantly benefit from this advanced instrumentation which is not available at the University or elsewhere in the State. Through the University?s Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Center which also manages a small animal, high field MR imager, the infrastructure (including space, financial management, routine maintenance, technical support and personnel) exists to rapidly bring the new scanner on line when funding becomes available and to continue to develop its capabilities to aid biomedical research.
Kentucky residents are unfortunately at unusually high risk for stroke and heart attack, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and vascular dementia, and share the US trend for increasing population age and Alzheimer?s disease. Human research in local at-risk populations is needed to combat these trends. This High-End Instrumentation Grant will upgrade a multi-user MR imager to a state-of-the-art instrument for advanced neuroscience and other research at the University of Kentucky. The upgrade will add several essential new features allowing researchers to better understand the structure and function of the brain, heart and muscle in health and disease.
