This proposal requests support for new animal MRI scanner electronics system that will replace an obsolete system and provide dramatically improved capabilities. Once installed, this state-of-the-art system will support research from NIH-funded investigators representing four IDeA State institutions in the Midwest: University of Kansas Medical Center, University of Kansas-Lawrence, Kansas State University, and Pittsburg State University. The upgraded system will also support the research initiatives of six NIH-funded centers: University of Kansas Alzheimer's Disease Center, University of Kansas Cancer Center, Kansas Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities Research Center, University of Kansas Polycystic Kidney Disease Research & Translation Core Center, Frontiers: University of Kansas Clinical and Translational Science Institute, and Kansas State University Cognitive and Neurobiological Approaches to Plasticity (C-NAP) CoBRE Center. These electronics will replace the obsolete (Varian Inc) electronics and gradients that have served our imaging center since 2003. They will provide more accurate pulse sequence timing, faster more powerful gradients with increased duty cycle, more receiver channels and multi-channel receiver coils for increased signal-to-noise characteristics and better shimming. It also will come with many new acquisition sequences that will provide enormous new opportunities for data acquisition across a wide range of biomedical disciplines and organ systems. Moreover, the new console provides an intuitive graphical user interface based on clinical MRI scanner designs which is more user-friendly to operators and will open access to a wider user group including graduate students and post-doctoral fellows since their training period will be dramatically shorter. Accordingly, we anticipate reduced imaging costs to investigators funds. This system will be installed as an upgrade to the existing 9.4 Tesla pre-clinical animal MRI scanner in the University of Kansas Medical Center Hoglund Brain Imaging Center. It will be supported by an outstanding team of imaging physicists and neurobiologists who will collaborate with our Major and Minor Users on study design, imaging protocol development, analysis of data and interpretation of results. We expect this upgrade to quickly result in a dramatic increase in research activity at the University of Kansas Medical Center as well as in the nearby region.
The new upgraded console and electronics will provide access to state-of-the-art imaging for a broad array of scientists from Kansas City and the surrounding region. These scientists use animal models of normal function and disease to develop new cures. It will provide a user-friendly interface for programming an extensive library of well-established acquisition protocols. It will also provide an outstanding training environment for graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty investigators. .
