[MURG] UIC MRI

[Eric Zilli]

can they use it on humans? I know 3T magnets are safe for people, but
I think I've heard safety concerns of even using a 4.5T magnet..

as I understand it, fMRI works by sending in radio waves of the proper
frequency to be absorbed by hydrogen.. I wonder if it could be
modified to use frequencies that would be absorbed by molecular orbits
instead of electrons orbitting single atoms this is how organic dyes
get their colors: add a carbon and the frequency of the molecular
orbit changes a little, so it absorbs and emits a slightly different
spectrum.. if you could selectively scan specific molecular
frequencies, you could localize the differences in densities of all
the things you're interested in, such as different receptor molecules
and such (since receptors are protein complexes, one might be able to
deduce that from a given signal strength of a particular voxel
[ideally the size of, say, a synaptic bouton] at different probe
frequencies, the amount of different protein complexes)

(that is: if an NMDA receptor is built of proteins each of which
absorb a different frequency, say x, y, and z, if a given voxel has
equal signal strengths at those frequencies, than we could try to
deduce a certain density of NMDA receptors in that voxel)

but I'm just throwing out ideas

On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 19:47:02 +0200, C. Altman (QUIST)
<contact at artilect.org> wrote:
> UIC Unveils World's Most Powerful MRI for Decoding the Human Brain
> 
> The University of Illinois at Chicago has unveiled the world's most
> powerful magnetic resonance imaging machine. The current industry
> standard for MRI systems is 1.5 tesla, which limits researchers to
> imaging water molecules. As a result, only anatomical changes can be
> detected and monitored. By contrast, UIC's 9.4 tesla magnet will enable
> researchers to detect signals from sodium, phosphorus, carbon,
> nitrogen, and oxygen – the metabolic building blocks of brain function
> and human thought.
> 
> Central to the technology is the 9.4 tesla magnet, larger than any
> other human-sized magnet, built by GE Healthcare, a unit of General
> Electric Company. A tesla is a large measuring unit of magnetic
> strength.
> 
> "This technological leap forward is as revolutionary to the medical
> community as the transition from radio to television was for society,"
> said Dr. Keith Thulborn, director of the UIC Center for Magnetic
> Resonance Research, at the facility's grand opening today. "GE's magnet
> is introducing a whole new dimension to imaging by enabling researchers
> to better understand how the human brain thinks, learns, fights disease
> and responds to experimental therapies."
> 
> Researchers will use the scanner to identify and monitor conditions or
> diseases such as stroke, Alzheimer's, autism and mental illness.
> http://tigger.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/newsbureau/cgi-bin/
> 
> .......
> 
> Quantum Information Science and Technology
> http://www.umsl.edu/~altmanc/
> 
> Disarmament and International Security Committee
> http://www.artilect.org/altman/
> 
> 


-- 
Eric Zilli
Hasselmo Lab - Computational Neurophysiology
Center for Memory and Brain
Boston University
2 Cummington St.
Boston MA, 02215
digfarenough at gmail.com -- www.digfarenough.com