Upgrade eines 3-Tesla-MRT-Scanners

• Subject Area: Neurosciences
• Term: Funded in 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 466436191

We are requesting an upgrade for our 3T whole body MR scanner. The scanner was installed in 2006 and will reach the end of its life cycle in the near future. The scanner is part of the Translational Research Center for Innovative Psychiatry and Psychotherapy Research (ZIPP) within CIMH. Neuroimaging is one of the most important pillars of ZI research and an important tool in the majority of multicenter projects and collaborations. Eight departments or institutes of the CIMH and two departments of the Mannheim Medical Faculty are applying for this upgrade with a large portfolio of neuropsychiatric imaging studies. Our scanners are also accessible to other external users. The terms of use are defined in the ZIPP's user regulations. The two human whole-body MR scanners installed at ZIPP are used for scientific neuroimaging research with a variety of methods including MRS, BOLD fMRI, DTI, ASL, and morphological measurements. CIMH scientists have published over 400 peer-reviewed papers using MR methods. One scanner was upgraded in 2019. The plan is to upgrade the second remaining old 3T system to the highest level of current 3T MR technology, aligning it with the other upgraded 3T. All the benefits in terms of acquisition speed, increased resolution, improved image quality and long-term stability of this upgrade are of particular benefit to our research. Our research benefits from a significant increase in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), more advanced fMRI and DTI protocols, shorter scan times, and less noise. The latter will especially benefit planned research on children and psychiatric patients. Due to the superior performance of the upgraded scanner, this scanner is currently at its capacity limit while occupancy rates of the old scanner are decreasing. The upgrade will not only provide state-of-theart image and spectral quality, but is also critical to our research program, as our work with larger samples requires high-throughput studies that can only be performed efficiently if the scanner platforms are aligned.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Upgrade eines 3-Tesla-MRT-Scanners
• Instrumentation Group: 3231 MR-Tomographie-Systeme
• Applicant Institution: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
• Leader: Professor Dr. Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg