Neuroimaging Technologies Across Scales

We propose to design, build, and evaluate the Scanner Approaching in Vivo Autoradiographic Neuro Tomography (SAVANT), a next generation PET scanner for ultra-high resolution imaging of the human brain using hardware advances developed by members of our collaborative team to achieve unprecedented spatial resolution and count rate capabilities. The system will have a volumetric resolution close to 1 mm3 (isotropic spatial resolution close to 1 mm), which is approximately 27 fold better than the best dedicated brain PET scanners and 125 fold better than general purpose PET scanners.

Project Summary: The broad, long-term goal of this project is to develop a wearable high performance MEG system that can operate without external shielding that will lead to Advances in Human Neuroscience and transformative advances in our understanding of the Human Brain ‘in Action and in Context’, which are currently unachievable via imaging technologies in live persons.

Project Summary This grant will develop a wireless wearable high-performance, high-density diffuse optical tomography (DOT) instrument for mapping of brain function in naturalistic settings. Functional neuroimaging of healthy adults has enabled mapping of brain function and revolutionized cognitive neuroscience. Increasingly, functional neuroimaging is being used in younger age groups, and as a diagnostic and prognostic tool in the clinical setting. Its expanding application in the study of both health and disease necessitates new, more flexible tools.

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT To develop maps at multiple scales of neuronal circuits in the human brain and study the brain dynamics, there is a need for non-invasive functional brain imaging with high spatiotemporal resolution operating in natural environments. Among non-invasive functional brain imaging methods, magnetoencephalography (MEG) is the only technology that can map cortical activity down to millimeter spatial resolution with millisecond time resolution. Current cryogenic MEG systems employ superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometers.

Project Summary/Abstract Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a well-established neuroimaging method which enables neuroscientists to study brain activity by non-invasively monitoring hemodynamic changes in the cerebral cortex. In the last decade, the use of fNIRS has increased significantly with the formation of a society, with an exponential growth of users and publications, and with an increasing number of available commercial instruments.

ABSTRACT The overarching goal of this project is to develop, validate and implement a new modality for noninvasive functional imaging of neural currents deep in the human brain through the skull at unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution. Transcranial Acoustoelectric Brain Imaging (tABI) is a disruptive technology that exploits an ultrasound (US) beam to transiently interact with physiologic current, producing a radiofrequency signature detected by one or more surface electrodes.

Research applications of brain Positron Emission Tomography (PET) have been in place for over 40 years. The combination of quantitative PET systems with novel radiotracers has led to a numerous imaging para- digms to understand normal brain physiology including neurotransmitter dynamics and receptor pharmacology at rest and during activation. Brain-dedicated PET systems offer important advantages over currently available PET systems in terms of sensitivity and resolution. However, the state-of-the-art for brain PET has not progressed beyond the 20-year-old HRRT.

PROJECT SUMMARY Advanced brain research demands ultra-high field MRI systems. The 11.7 T Neurospin CEA MRI magnet pushed the use of superconducting NbTi materials to the limit by using superfluid helium to cool. To design and build a cost effective 16 T head-only MRI magnet, Nb3Sn wires must be used. To reduce the risks with such a high-field, high-stress, and high-stored energy magnet, critical technologies must be developed before a 16 T MRI system can be realized. One of the biggest risks is the cracking of the Nb3Sn coil composite matrix under high mechanical and thermal stress.

Innovations in human neuroimaging tools have driven profound advances in our understanding of brain function under well-controlled and constrained conditions.

In response to BRAIN RFA-EB-19-001 we propose to demonstrate a novel noninvasive brain imaging method, Moving MRI (mMRI). In mMRI, a high resolution, high field, superconducting MRI magnet moves such that the subject's head and body effectively remain stationary with respect to the magnet.