In this proposal we request funding to purchase a 7T tesla horizontal magnet for small animal imaging. It is a joint request by investigators from various departments of the University of Arizona and the department of radiology of UCLA (Harper. P.I).The new machine will become a major component of the University of Arizona Biological Magnetic Resonance (BMR) facility. The BMR facility is currently comprised of an AMX400 AVANCE Bruker 9.4T horizontal wide-bore spectrometer (9.4T), and a Biospec (4.7T) 40 cm bore spectrometer both equipped with shielded gradients and imaging capabilities; and 3 an AM500 (11.75T) standard bore spectrometer. Since its inception, significant NIH-funded research programs have developed within the BMR facility which is dependent upon this facility's resources. The success of the currently funded research projects and the funding of future applications are dependent upon improving the capabilities of these instruments. The purchase of a new 7Tesla small animal imaging machine fits this agenda. Moreover since the Southwest Animal Imaging Resource (SWAIR) was established at the University of Arizona in 1999 within the structure of the Biological Magnetic resonance facility, the number of scientific project undertaken by the facility has increased dramatically overloading our 4.7 Tesla platform. Therefore, the need to acquire new imaging capabilities and the growth of the UoA MRI imaging community are the main justification for the present request.
