MRI method for quantifying microscopic heterogeneity
- Reference number
- ITM17-0267
- Start and end dates
- 190101-231231
- Amount granted
- 7 911 145 SEK
- Administrative organization
- Lund University
- Research area
- Life Science Technology
Summary
We will develop a new generation of non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods to investigate tissue microstructure, chemical composition, and heterogeneity of the human brain. From a scientific perspective, our new methods will enable critical testing of currently unresolved hypotheses about microscopic brain tissue changes associated with knowledge acquisition, onset of psychosis, and tumor spreading, having far-reaching implications for both diagnosis of pathological conditions and our understanding of normal brain function. The method development is performed from the perspective of physical chemistry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and involves an already established interdisciplinary and international network of researchers from applied mathematics and porous media science, as well as representatives from the intended end-users in diagnostic radiology and neuropsychology. A Swedish private company co-founded by the PI holds a recent patent protecting the basic principles. The development plan aims at converting these principles to algorithms and software for controlling MRI equipment and process the primary data into easily understandable images. The methods will later be used in applied research projects that could show that current MRI methods should be replaced by ours. Finally, we have the vision of securing venture capital to form a medical software company, potentially having hundreds of employees in Sweden within 15 years.
Popular science description
Magnetkameran är ett utmärkt instrument för att hitta sjukdomar som påverkar hjärnan. Många sjukdomstillstånd har dock för liten effekt på hjärnans struktur för att synas på vanliga magnetkamerabilder där pixlarna ofta är större än 1 millimeter. Inom detta projekt utvecklar vi metoder för att magnetkameran ska ge information om mikroskopiska strukturer och vävnadens sammansättning inom varje pixel. Metoderna består av datorprogram som styr magnetkameran och omvandlar de uppmätta signalerna till lättförståeliga bilder. Med dessa metoder kommer vi att kunna följa processer som nuförtiden är osynliga, t ex när tumörer gradvis äter sig in i omgivande frisk hjärnvävnad eller när nervceller börjar förtvina vid MS eller Parkinsons.