About the CMROI
Research Focus
This Research Resource is dedicated to the development and application of innovative, novel magnetic resonance and optical imaging techniques. The facility's core sections provide research and computing resources for numerous user, collaborative, and training projects.
History
Since its inception in 1984, the Center for Magnetic Resonance and Optical Imaging (then the Metabolic Magnetic Resonance Research and Computing Center) made dramatic contributions to technological advancements and biomedical applications of magnetic resonance. The overall long-term goals of this resource have been 1) to develop innovative MR and optical techniques for understanding and quantifying the biophysical parameters of various disease states, and 2) to design techniques for the noninvasive diagnosis of these diseases. These technological developments have been driven by much collaboration both within and outside of the resource.
Future Directives
In the past, we have emphasized the structural and anatomic aspects of magnetic resonance and optical imaging. However, recent advances in biomedical research have opened up new and exciting avenues for study. It is becoming clear that the most exciting frontiers of imaging research lie in the non-invasive characterization of tissue physiology and its aberration in disease states.
Lab Components
In conjunction with our collaborators, we have developed the following four broad areas of core research: The first core deals with the development of novel MR techniques for studying the structural, biochemical and metabolic aspects of cartilage, brain, and tumors, with direct application to arthritis, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. This core also develops novel image reconstruction strategies to quantify high temporal contrast agent dynamics in breast and other tissues. In the second core, research is being undertaken on the development of improved, quantitative perfusion imaging at high fields and in pediatric patients as well as methods for concurrent imaging of blood flow and glucose metabolism. It also develops strategies for correlation of fMRI with optical imaging. The third core’s subprojects deal with MR of hyperpolarized gases and development of a comprehensive approach for the study of pulmonary and sinus diseases. This core also develops strategies for improving the efficiency of hyper-polarization of 129Xe. The fourth and final core focuses on combining optical and MR imaging techniques, development of methods of two-photon optical metabolic imaging and image reconstruction strategies in diffusion tomography for the study of neurophysiology, and breast cancer.
Facilities and Resources
All of our systems are freely available to the Research Resource to aid in technology development and transfer.
The University of Pennsylvania provides an optimal environment for our resource, combining an outstanding medical school with a strong foundation of research and world-renowned faculty. The greater Philadelphia area is also the home of four other medical schools, each the source of substantial biomedical research. In addition, the University of Pennsylvania has associations with both the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Fox Chase Cancer Center. MR facilities exist at both of these locations, and the resource has transferred technologies to many related projects at these institutions.
Another important aspect of the CMROI is the broad knowledge base of its staff, ranging from basic physicists to medical clinicians. The resource has developed numerous new technologies in areas as diverse as RF and gradient coil design, pulse synthesis, spectroscopic imaging, perfusion imaging, mathematical models of metabolism, and optical imaging. Furthermore, numerous clinical experts complement resource staff in solving clinically relevant problems. Our commitment to intellectual interchange and the interdisciplinary pursuit of science has proven a fertile medium for interaction among scientists and clinicians, promoting the application of basic research to clinical medicine.
Funding and Affiliations
The Center for Magnetic Resonance and Optical Imaging is supported by the National Center for Research Recourses through a grant from the National Institutes of Health.