The objective of this project is to prove that a novel method to design and manufacture “volume RF coils” for MR imaging scanners can achieve the envisaged specific clinical and financial benefits. RF coils are used to detect the signal in MRI scanners. They are designed to be placed very close to the patient as the closer they are to the target tissue, the better the image quality and the better the resulting diagnosis. Volume RF coils refer to those that surround the target tissue such as the head. The invention that is key to this project involves the combination of state-of-the-art medically approved foams, 3D printed plastic parts and moulded plastic parts to produce a rigid volume coil in which the primary outer surface material is made of light weight foam. There are several clinical benefits for the user and the patient. In particular the coil will be lighter weight and more acceptable and comfortable for the patient. The use of foam makes it possible to fit the coil closer to the target tissue giving the potential for better clinical images. Equally important are the economic benefits of this new approach. This method will reduce the time and cost of both development and production. This gives the potential for lower prices devices thus reducing the cost of the MR procedures. A particular benefit is that this design allows greater use of automated manufacturing processes. This, in turn means that manufacturing in the UK is financially justified as opposed to the Far East. It is PulseTeq’s intention, once this design process is successfully demonstrated within this project, to use this process to develop several RF coils optimised for different parts of the body such as the head and knee. These devices have very significant sales potential and, through these, the aim is to expand the business in the UK to become a significant supplier and exporter of RF coils to the clinical MRI market.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is used as a safe 'window' into the body by basic science and clinical researchers to 'see' changes in biological molecules or structure without surgery or biopsy, to assess disease or effects of therapy. The project aims to produce a system of integrated devices to be sensitive to detecting low amounts of MRI signals from the brain of live subjects, isolated brain samples, and especially from multiple, very thin, 'microscopy-sized' brain tissue sections. MRI of the latter is innovative and offers the researcher with the ability to get closer to studying small brain changes approaching those seen by microscopy, and then extrapolate such findings to data from isolated brain samples and live subjects where data has to be acquired relatively quickly and at a larger level than that of tissue sections. The ultimate aim of this project is to extend the use of MRI in the biosciences and negate the need for biopsy and potential risks of damage to the body.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is now well established as a tool in clinical diagnosis. MRI also has a potential role in very high resolution MRI, otherwise known as magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) on small tissue samples. This ex-vivo MRM, in principle, allows substantial increase in sensitivity of the MRI measurements to detect cellular/molecular changes underlying disease compared with in-vivo MRI. This is essential for researchers to determine the biological/disease processes that leads to MRI changes in vivo, enhancing the translation of MRI methods to the clinical arena. However undertaking MRM on standard MRI scanners is limited by signal sensitivity and by the size and shape of commercial tissue sample holders. This project addresses these limitations with a new concept that integrates the sensor that detects the MRI signal, a new very high performance RF coil, into a specially designed tissue sample container. This will allow the system users to undertake MRM with image resolution of less than 100 micro-meters in reasonable scan times, this in turn will lead to a significant uptake of this bio-imaging techniques.

MRI of hyperpolarised (HP) noble gases (3He and 129Xe) shows much promise for imaging ventilation in lungs. Laser hyperpolarisation of gas atoms (with optical pumping) provides ample signal for gas MRI in the lungs. The methodological work carried out to date by the applicant with 3He, has established the University of Sheffield internationally in the area of HP gas MRI. The principle aims of this project, which will be carried out in Sheffield are: 1. Study the effects of magnetic field strength in HP gas MRI. This will make use of a dedicated lung imaging system operating at 0.2 T designed to image the lungs in the upright position, the 1.5 T whole body MRI scanner currently in use and a new 3 T whole body MRI system. The work would be of benefit to the international HP gas MRI research community and MR manufacturers in helping determine the optimum configuration of gas and field strength for performing this exciting new method of functional lung imaging. 2. Development of pulse sequences and radio frequency hardware for parallel imaging with HP gases. These methods will help reduce the amounts of gas needed for imaging through optimisation of polarisation usage. This is important if HP gas MRI is to become widely used in clinical practice since these gases are expensive limited resources. 3. Extend capability to the MRI of HP 129Xe and perform experiments to investigate the NMR physics of the two gases in the lung and to determine their potential sensitivity for functional lung imaging. The ultimate goal is to develop the technology to quantify lung function with as high spatial resolution as possible without the use of harmful ionising radiation as is currently used in the clinical standard lung imaging modalities / CT and nuclear scintigraphy. The potential applications in biomedicine, physical science and industrial research are numerous. The project will involve multiple collaborations with world leqading laboratories and industry working in the area and will help strengthen existing international inter-disciplinary collaborations [www.phil.ens.fr]. This prestigous award would allow the applicant to focus on his area of research expertise and will help consolidate Sheffield and the UK at the forefront of international research in this field..

Neural circuitry inside a human brain is probably the most complicated large scale circuit that any electronic engineer could think of: it contains around100 billion neurons, instantly linked through trillions of pathways to generate thought, memory, action or emotion. When faults rise within the neural circuitry, different brain disorders may arise. There are 10 million people in the UK living with a neurological condition, and the associated economic burden is estimated to be 116 billion pounds per year. With the recent significant investments in Brain Mapping projects in both Europe and the US, Neuroscientists need to develop new imaging technologies with superior signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), such as Ultrahigh field Magnetic Resonance Imaging, to show how complex neural circuits interact and eventually yield methods of preventing and treating neurological disorders. However various image artifacts presented at 7T MR images raise uncertainty of MRI measurements, because of increased inhomogeneity of the magnetic excitation field. The latest technology to solve this problem is to utilise a novel RF technology: Parallel Transmission (pTX), through multiple RF excitation coils with unique spatial profiles to achieve the homogeneous magnetization. To adopt this engineering solution for medical imaging application, there is a preeminent need to address one technical challenge: to develop a reliable RF safety management, measured by Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), to ensure this technique will meet the RF exposure legal constraint. Since the advent of pTX for 7T MRI, the difficulty in accurately characterising the local SAR, especially for the pTX pulse optimised for a specific subject, greatly hampers its clinical application. The current practice for SAR estimation in use worldwide by adopting electromagnetic (EM) simulation requires an expensive safety margin (at least 40% higher) to accommodate the uncertainties. The other SAR calculation approach recently pioneered by our project partner (Philips Healthcare), B1-map based ultrafast SAR calculation, still suffers from poor accuracy due to several unrealistic default assumptions, and has not been validated against quantitative experimental measurements at Ultrahigh field MRI yet. Within this project, we will develop a trustworthy and ultrafast SAR calculation approach to address this Engineering challenge by combining the electromagnetic numerical solution with B1 mapping for the first time, to enable a paradigm shift from using numerical simulation with generic models to proactively managing SAR for specific subjects under examination. In particular we will tackle the poor accuracy problem associated with the latest MRI B1-map based ultrafast SAR calculation by using complementary EM knowledge to supplement the missing information. It will be the first attempt to adopt such a hybrid approach, which could draw the essence of each technique, to tackle the MRI SAR issue in this global research forefront area. The project is seen as timely because it will address two challenges raised in the 2012 EPSRC/MRC Medical Imaging Technology Working Group Report: "Safer, lower cost, and higher throughput systems and Improving the value of current medical imaging technologies". The research project will also benefit from close collaboration with leading national and international partners in MRI RF technology from both academia (Nottingham University and Queensland University) and industry (Both Philips Healthcare and Pulseteq Ltd) to ensure its immediate impact on Healthcare Industry in the UK from the outset. To accelerate the impact of our research, the SAR management software developed here will provide free licences to all academic and clinical MR researchers. The applicant will also engage actively with the Health Protection Agency's Advisory Group, British Institute of Radiology and Safety Committee of the ISMRM for their reviews on our research output.