Posted on 04/28/2023 7:32:40 AM PDT by Red Badger
a colorful scan of a mouse brain...Credit: Duke Center for In Vivo Microscopy
Duke University researchers have developed a new brain imaging technique that produces images 64 million times sharper than a standard MRI — and they think it could revolutionize our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases.
The challenge:
The human brain is only about as large as two fists, but in that small space are 86 billion neurons, forming 100 trillion connections to one another, making the organ arguably one of the most complex systems in the universe.
While that complexity enables us to do extraordinary things, it also makes it incredibly difficult to understand what causes brain disorders, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, and to develop effective treatments for them.
HiDiver images are 27,000 times sharper than the MRI scans typically used for mouse studies.
Better brain imaging: While mouse brains aren’t nearly as large or complex as human ones, researchers can learn a lot about neurodegenerative diseases by studying mouse models of the disorders.
The Duke-led team developed a brain imaging technique that resulted in the highest-resolution images of a whole mouse brain ever produced — these images are 27,000 times sharper than the MRI scans typically used for mouse studies.
They call the technique HiDiver (“high-dimensional integrated volume with registration”), and it builds on nearly 40 years of research at the Duke Center for In Vivo Microscopy. The details have been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
VIDEO AT LINK...............
How it works: Duke’s brain imaging technique starts with an MRI scan of an anesthetized mouse, but instead of using a magnet with a strength of 1.5 to 3 Tesla — like the magnets found in MRI machines at clinics — they used a vastly more powerful 9.4 Tesla magnet.
Their scanner also includes gradient coils 100 times more powerful than those in a standard MRI and uses a high-performance computer, equivalent to 800 laptops, to process the scans.
a colorful scan of a mouse brain
A scan of a mouse brain produced using the HiDiver framework. Credit: DCIVM The mouse was euthanized and the brain was autopsied, stained, and scanned using light sheet microscopy — a technique that allows the researchers to label specific types of cells within the brain.
The MRI scans and light sheet images were then combined, resulting in an incredibly accurate depiction of the brain cells and the connections between them.
Looking ahead: Now that the Duke team has developed and demonstrated its new brain imaging technique, they’re eager to see researchers use it to further our understanding of aging, Parkinson’s disease, and more.
“It is something that is truly enabling,” said lead author G. Allan Johnson. “We can start looking at neurodegenerative diseases in an entirely different way.”
That’s amazing!
The one at the top reminds me of Darth Vader!................
So you’ll have to be euthanized but they’ll be able to tell ya what was wrong with ya beforehand. /s
Can it do the same with a prostate?
Every specialist is now thinking about what this kind of hi-res imaging can do for them. Heart specialist can now see very detailed images of the heart, etc.
Combine that image with those game goggles and you can hold the image in your hands for inspection.
> So you’ll have to be euthanized but they’ll be able to tell ya what was wrong with ya beforehand. /s
And then autopsied and scanned. After that comes the diagnosis.
Ka-ching!
You beat me to it. I was going to say, we now know what’s wrong with the patient, but they’re dead.
An amazing example of the talent God gives to mankind.
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.
6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.........................
Here is the first image of Biden’s brain…
How diverse was the team that found this technique? If not heavily anti white and Asian, throw it back!!!
Next engineering task - can we put this imaging technology in a machine that will be even MORE claustrophobia-inducing for the patient?
I mean, give even the most unshakeable a gut-wrenching episode that will power PTSD for years to come.
Not only that. You'll be autopsied and stained.
Not everybody gets that claustrophobic feeling.
I have had MRI’s and CAT Scans and even had my entire head locked motionless in a closed box while getting a MRI.
They even gave me a button I could push if I felt that way, so they would stop the procedure, but I was fine....................
The only thing that really worried me was:
What did the last person have that was inside this box?..................
“ Here is the first image of Biden’s brain…
“
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Why did you post the image twice? /s
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