[Note: For a report on the installation of the 7T MRI at Johns Hopkins Kennedy Krieger F.M. Kirby Research Center, read the January 2009 issue of DOTmed Business News.]

An exclusive DOTmed Business News e-mail interview with leading experts at Kennedy Krieger's F.M. Kirby Research Center providing details on their new magnet.

Information provided by Peter van Zijl, Ph.D., Director, and Joe Gillen, B.S., Staff Scientist, of the F.M. Kirby Research Center at Kennedy Krieger Institute.
Q: What will the MRI be used for?
A: The MRI will be used for research on brain function and physiology in normal volunteers and the many patient populations at Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland, and several other institutions.

Q: Is this a research or clinical/human application?
A: This is a research application. Human patient studies will be carried out but no clinical reimbursement studies will take place.


Q: Who made the MRI?
A: The system was developed at Philips Medical Systems, Cleveland, OH and Best, Netherlands. The magnet is made by Magnex Scientific, Oxford, England.

Q: What type of machine is it?
A: 7 Tesla Achieva Magnetic Resonance Imager. It uses the same console as Philips 1.5T and 3T Achieva systems but with modifications to the RF system for 7 Tesla operation. This allows our research modifications to the Philips product MR pulse sequences developed for 3T to be immediately used at 7T.

Q: Describe your work; areas of research.
A: Currently there are about 100 users of the F.M Kirby Research Center who study a variety of diseases, including metabolic disorders, ADHD, reading disability, Alzheimer's disease, Multiple Sclerosis, autism, cancer, stroke, and other conditions.

Q: How will this high-powered magnet help? What will it allow you to do that a "regular" MRI can't?
A: There are several advantages, the most important one is that images can be acquired at higher resolution, allowing us to study more anatomical detail. Secondly, the study of brain function becomes easier as the MRI effects due to brain activity are proportional to field strength. It will help us detect smaller effects not visible at low field. Third, 7T will allow the detection of several chemical compounds that can not be detected very well at low field. For example, several neurotransmitters. Finally, detection of physiological parameters such as blood flow can be done more accurately.

Q: Where is it to be installed, in an office building, laboratory, other setting?
A: It will be installed in the basement level of the new Kennedy Krieger Institute Clinical Research Building in East Baltimore. The site is near the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions campus. (Note: The MRI is in place and scheduled to be operational in March.)

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