ShEEP request for a high-resolution microCT scanner

Louis Stokes Cleveland Va Medical Center, Cleveland OH

Investigators

Linked publications & trials

Abstract

Requested Equipment: The PerkinElmer Quantum GX microCT scanner is a high speed, three dimensional computed tomography (CT) scanner with a high voxel resolution of 4.5 microns. The scanner achieves images using low-dose ionizing radiation, making it ideal for longitudinal studies. The scanner can obtain images in a phase-locked manner to reduce the effects of respiratory or cardiac motion. The scanner is designed for in vitro and in vivo imaging and is able to accommodate animals up to the size of small cats. The requested microCT scanner will integrate with the PerkinElmer IVIS Lumina XR 2D spectral scanner that we already have available as a shared resource, allowing our researchers to acquire co-registered molecular optical signals with anatomical microCT data. Justification for the Equipment: The Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center (LSCVAMC) has approximately 200 active research projects. Several of these research projects require or could benefit from the requested microCT. The microCT affords several in vivo and ex vivo imaging opportunities. The data provided by a microCT is of interest to several of our researchers. Indeed, there are over 60 researchers in the Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) and Advanced Platform Technology (APT) Centers who could expect to see improved outcomes in their research if they had more detailed knowledge of the nerves they were stimulating. Both of these Centers were designated ?Centers of Excellence.? Because of the broad application of the microCT scanner, there is a diverse range of researchers that can benefit from this equipment. The microCT scanner is intended to improve productivity and provide researchers at the LSCVAMC with a much-needed imaging system that is otherwise unavailable. Projection for Usage: There are several researchers at the LSCVAMC who would benefit from this system. We have identified 10 laboratories whom we believe will be the largest users during Year 1. Major users are supported by career development awards, merit reviews, research career scientist awards, and a small projects in rehabilitation research (SPiRE) award. Usage during Year 1 is expected to approach 40 hours per week with a goal to extend usage to 60 hours per week by the end of Year 2. VA-supported (major) users constitute nearly 80% of the usage time. Imaging targets include the nerve, muscle, bone, blood vessels, other tissues and organs, and airways. Imaging targets also include implanted devices. Benefit to Veterans: Collectively, there are several million Veterans with diminished quality of life due to obesity, sleep apnea, bladder/bowel incontinence and/or dysfunction, lost sensation, Alzheimer?s disease, osteoporosis, and mandibular defect. This microCT scanner will contribute to research in the area of neuroprosthetics that are being used to treat obesity, sleep apnea, bladder and bowel dysfunction, as well as the restoration of sensation in amputees. In a related area, the microCT will provide in vivo images of the body?s response to implants and allow investigators to develop new implants that produce less tissue insult. Regarding bone, the scanner will provide critical data to studies that are investigating the links between Alzheimer?s disease and osteoporosis as well as provide guidance on the optimal methods for surgical mandibular reconstruction and repair. Finally, the microCT will provide data on internal changes in tissues following application of regenerative therapeutics.