2023-11-27 カリフォルニア大学バークレー校(UCB)
◆これにより、神経科学者は脳の異なる領域のニューロン回路を探求し、発達障害や神経疾患の潜在的な原因を解明する可能性があります。特に、アルツハイマー病などの脳変化を研究する際に、異常なタンパク質の蓄積と記憶の変化との関連をより詳細に調査できる見込みです。この7T MRIスキャナの開発は、米国国立衛生研究所(NIH)のBRAINイニシアティブからの資金と、UCバークレーのChancellor’s OfficeおよびWeill Neurohubからの追加の資金により実現しました。
<関連情報>
- https://news.berkeley.edu/2023/11/27/innovative-design-achieves-tenfold-better-resolution-for-functional-mri-brain-imaging
- https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-023-02068-7
7テスラでの超高解像度ヒト脳イメージング用に設計された次世代MRIスキャナー Next-generation MRI scanner designed for ultra-high-resolution human brain imaging at 7 Tesla
David A. Feinberg,Alexander J. S. Beckett,An T. Vu,Jason Stockmann,Laurentius Huber,Samantha Ma,Sinyeob Ahn,Kawin Setsompop,Xiaozhi Cao,Suhyung Park,Chunlei Liu,Lawrence L. Wald,Jonathan R. Polimeni,Azma Mareyam,Bernhard Gruber,Rüdiger Stirnberg,Congyu Liao,Essa Yacoub,Mathias Davids,Paul Bell,Elmar Rummert,Michael Koehler,Andreas Potthast,Ignacio Gonzalez-Insua,Stefan Stocker,Shajan Gunamony & Peter Dietz
Nature Methods Published:27 November 2023
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-023-02068-7
Abstract
To increase granularity in human neuroimaging science, we designed and built a next-generation 7 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging scanner to reach ultra-high resolution by implementing several advances in hardware. To improve spatial encoding and increase the image signal-to-noise ratio, we developed a head-only asymmetric gradient coil (200 mT m-1, 900 T m-1s-1) with an additional third layer of windings. We integrated a 128-channel receiver system with 64- and 96-channel receiver coil arrays to boost signal in the cerebral cortex while reducing g-factor noise to enable higher accelerations. A 16-channel transmit system reduced power deposition and improved image uniformity. The scanner routinely performs functional imaging studies at 0.35–0.45 mm isotropic spatial resolution to reveal cortical layer functional activity, achieves high angular resolution in diffusion imaging and reduces acquisition time for both functional and structural imaging.
