Message Number: SG18248 | New FHL Archives Search

From: sukiec@optonline.net
Date: 2006-09-11 20:22:03 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] future affordable, compact, and even portable MRIs
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com

Future, very affordable MRIs:

This never showed up so I am sending it again. If the original shows up l=
ater I will delete that copy. =


It is slightly peripheral to the FHL, but IS something that would be of int=
erest to member vets and IS something that could in the future help improve=
ferret health care.

I only knew Dr. Paul Lauterbur slightly because at the time I was close wit=
h part of his team (but he was a real sweetheart who used to regularly chec=
k after two members of his team who both had serious medical conditions and=
was very accepting of pretty much everyone, including me). I did NOT at a=
ll know the research itself except for bits and pieces that friends at the =
time discussed and my education then was even less equip to understand the =
nuances than it is now. The reason I am saying this is because on re-readi=
ng what I wrote I see that I did a lousy job of writing and too much knowle=
dge on my part could be interpreted from it. =


I think that I do recall a bit about the timing, though, and if I didn't sc=
rew that part up and if the current research continues to progress well, th=
is new advance could signal a real change in veterinary care in the not too=
distant future.


In not that many years there could be MRIs so affordable that vet hospitals=
could all have them.

I know that fluid imaging is still early stages for actual experimentation,=
but I *think* that I recall when Dr. Paul Lauterbur (one of the kindest pe=
ople imaginable in the way he always carefully looked out after the younger=
people who worked for him, some of whom were friends then) and his team (t=
he late Bill Dale who was then a doctoral student, Dr. Waylon House, etc.) =
weren't much past that stage at Stony Brook with the original zeugamatograp=
hy that became the current MRIs. If memory serves (and after this much tim=
e it may not ) even with the new technology then (safety considerations tha=
t do not exist with established technology had to be addressed) only perhap=
s a decade was involved before the commercial stage. In other words, it re=
ally might not be all that many years now before MRIs become affordable eno=
ugh to be standard part of hospital equipment or of traveling imagery speci=
alists who serve the veterinary community -- something all of us with ferre=
ts will be grateful for.

The website also has images.

http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/MSD-MRI.html

START QUOTE

Public News Release, today, 9/5/06, sent 5:43 EST U.S.:



September 5, 2006
science@berkeley lab

MRI On the Cheap and On the Go

Media contact: Lynn Yarris (510) 486-5375; lcyarris@lbl.gov
Science contact: Shoujun Xu (510) 642-2094; SXu@lbl.gov

BERKELEY, CA =97 When we hear the term =93MRI,=94 most of us probably think=
of a special treatment room in a hospital with a huge doughnut-shaped mac=
hine that costs a lot of money and makes a lot of noise. Researchers with =
the U.S. Department of Energy=92s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Be=
rkeley Lab) are looking to change that perception with the successful testi=
ng of a laser-based MRI technique that would make the technology compact an=
d portable, relatively cheap, and quiet.

=93We have developed a novel approach for the detection of MRI based on opt=
ical atomic magnetometry,=94 said chemist Alexander Pines, one of the world=
=92s leading authorities on NMR/MRI technology. Pines holds a joint appoint=
ment as a chemist with Berkeley Lab=92s Materials Sciences Division and wit=
h UC Berkeley, where he is the Glenn T. Seaborg Professor of Chemistry. =93=
Our technique provides a viable alternative for MRI detection with substant=
ially enhanced sensitivity and time resolution for various situations where=
traditional MRI is not optimal.=94

A smaller magnet results in less polarization and a weaker MRI signal, whic=
h therefore requires a more sensitive means of signal detection. One alter=
native being explored is the use of SQUIDs (superconducting quantum interfe=
rence devices), which can detect the faintest of magnetic signals but must =
be cooled to a temperature of near absolute zero. This requirement makes SQ=
UIDs expensive and somewhat tricky devices to use. It also limits the situ=
ations in which they can be effectively deployed.

The alternative MRI technology being developed by Pines, Xu, Budker and the=
ir colleagues is also highly sensitive to low-field magnetic signals but of=
fers the enormous advantage of being operable at room temperatures.

Said Xu, =93Our technique has comparable sensitivity with SQUIDs, but the f=
act that it does not require superconducting magnets or cryogenics signific=
antly reduces the cost and maintenance of the apparatus, and opens the tech=
nology up to a broader range of applications. Furthermore, our technique ha=
s simple electronics that can be easily integrated into detector arrays.=94=


This new laser-based approach to MRI is derived from two technological adva=
nces. One, developed by the Pines=92 research group, physically separates =
the two basic steps of MRI, signal encoding and detection. Physically sepa=
rating these two steps enables each to be optimized for sensitivity. The o=
ther advance, developed by the Budker research group, is a highly sensitive=
atomic magnetometer that=92s based on a phenomenon called =93nonlinear mag=
neto-optical rotation.=94 With this magnetometer, a sample of alkali atoms=
featuring a single unpaired electron is vaporized in a glass cell. The un=
paired electron makes the atoms themselves act like spinning bar magnets, w=
ith a magnetic moment three orders of magnitude stronger than that of prece=
ssing nuclei.

A beam of laser light =93pumps=94 the atoms so that their spins are polariz=
ed, then =93probes=94 the polarized atoms for an MRI signal.

According to Budker, instead of the multimillion dollar costs of a conventi=
onal MRI system, this alternative MRI technology would cost only a few thou=
sand dollars to implement.

=93Our system is fundamentally simple and does not involve any single expen=
sive component,=94 Budker said. =93We anticipate that the whole apparatus =
will become quite compact and deployable as a battery-powered portable devi=
ce.=94

In the MRI system that the Berkeley researchers tested, the fluid to be ima=
ged, water, was passed through two small cells for signal encoding, then tr=
ansported to a U-shaped detection area for interrogation by a pair of Budke=
r=92s magnetometers. The magnetometers were oriented so that they detected=
the MRI signal with opposite signs. This configuration dramatically impro=
ved the signal-to-noise ratio, enabling the researchers to detect an MRI si=
gnal from microliters of water in 0.1 second without the presence of a stro=
ng magnet.

=93We are continuing to optimize our system, in both sensitivity and detect=
ion efficiency, to make this technique suitable for microfluidics and biolo=
gical objects with sizes in the micrometer regime,=94 said Xu. =93In additi=
on, further consolidation of the apparatus is underway so that the whole se=
tup becomes portable and therefore can be conveniently utilized as an in-li=
ne analytical instrument for monitoring chemical reactions and biological p=
rocesses.=94

Berkeley Lab is a U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory located in =
Berkeley, California. It conducts unclassified scientific research and is =
managed by the University of California. Visit our Website at www.lbl.gov.

Additional Information

To read the paper by Pines, Budker, Xu and their collaborators, click here =
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/103/34/12668
For more information on the research of Alexander Pines, visit his Website =
at http://waugh.cchem.berkeley.edu/
For more information on the research of Dmitry Budker, visit his Website at=
http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~budker/

END QUOTE

-- Sukie (not a vet, and not speaking for any of the below in my private po=
sts)
Recommended health resources to help ferrets and the people who love them:
Ferret Health List
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
AFIP Ferret Pathology
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
Miamiferrets
http://www.miamiferret.org/fhc/
International Ferret Congress Critical References
http://www.ferretcongress.org
=

=




=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D<<<
Orange Broadband click below:
http://ads.smartgroups.com/adclick/CID=3D000000b7c79a99a500000000
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D>>>
--
If you want to share pictures, use the calendar, or start a vote
visit http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth

To leave the group, email: ferrethealth-unsubscribe@smartgroups.com

Report abuse http://www.smartgroups.com/text/abusereport.cfm?gid%3D1423922&mid%3D18248