Brainmap: Novel PET and Multidimensional Imaging Techniques for Brain Science and Beyond

Thursday, April 17, 2014 - 12:00
Seminar room 2204, 149 13th St., Charlestown Navy Yard

Special Guest Seminar
 
Paul Vaska, Ph.D.
Stony Brook University
Brookhaven National Laboratory
 
We have developed a high-performance and flexible PET imaging platform with a resolution of ~1.5 mm, and employed it in several novel research paradigms.  These include PET imaging of the brain of a conscious and behaving rat, and simultaneous PET and MRI imaging in rodents at a field strength of 9.4 T.  I will also discuss our progress in scaling these systems up for human applications.  We have built an imaging system to improve the diagnosis of breast cancer using simultaneous PET/MRI and acquired pilot clinical data, and we are developing plans for a highly mobile human brain PET for both basic neuroscience and clinical applications such as the study of the acute phase of mild traumatic brain injury.