A Seven Tesla MRI System for Small Animals MRI/MRS

Henry Ford Health System, Detroit MI

Investigators

Abstract

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose to purchase a new 7 Tesla superconducting magnet and gradient set to upgrade our existing small animal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS) facilities. Our present system relies on a magnet that is 18 years old and is heavily used by 7 NIH-funded grants for physiological measurements in small animal models of stroke, tumor, intracerebral hemorrhage and epilepsy. The aim of the present request is to purchase and install a new magnet and gradient set onto our present system to bring it up to current standards so that we can serve our present grants and remain competitive as a laboratory. Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) will meet the remainder of any costs associated with this system upgrade (total $927,000) above the funds provided by the Shared Instrument Grant award ($500,000). [unreadable] [unreadable] The NMR laboratory is a HFHS Core Facility, and has been an NIH/NINCDS stroke center (NINCDS 1 PO-1 NS 23393) since 1986. Historically, this facility has been strongly focused on cerebral ischemia and stroke. In recent years, cerebral tumor has gained increasing importance in our time commitments. New initiatives in diffusion tensor imaging, vascular physiology, molecular imaging, MR tracking of precursor cells in a variety of organ systems, intracerebral hemorrhage and epilepsy are currently underway at HFHS. These proposals have led us to conclude that our present system will not be capable of meeting the present and steadily increasing demands for various types of noninvasive small-animal anatomical and physiological evaluations and must either be replaced or upgraded. The most cost effective way to accomplish this will be to replace the magnet and gradient set. This Shared Instrumentation Grant will partially supply the funds to bring the present MRI/MRS system up to current standards, with HFHS supplying the rest. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]