National Institute of Health (NIH) funded magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research has contributed a number of important advances towards the understanding of pathological processes and clinical management of cardiovascular disease. As these research applications become more complex (e.g., molecular imaging) and hypotheses seek to uncover more discrete physiological and cellular information, the demands on the imaging hardware also become significantly greater. We have identified a number of NIH funded programs at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine that currently suffer from the fundamental limitations of current 1.5 Tesla MRI systems. While ultra-high field systems are available to overcome some of these issues, their high degree of technical complexity and very limited physical access preclude large animal and human investigation. Recently developed full-body 3 Tesla systems offer a number of very specific advantages for cardiovascular and neurological imaging and spectroscopic applications. In this application, we propose a unique interdisciplinary project concept to secure funding towards the purchase of a research dedicated, full-bore 3T MRI scanner. Through a partnership with the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, the system will feature direct access to both the hospital emergency room and a fully equipped animal surgical suite and will be used to establish an internal cardiovascular imaging research center that will exist to help better satisfy the objectives of current NIH funded projects, as well as facilitate the expansion of new basic and clinical hypothesis-driven biomedical research at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
