by Marci E. Hersh

Scientists at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in collaboration with experts at the Ohio State University Medical School (OSU) and Philips Medical Systems are poised to lead the worldwide revolution in high-tech medical imaging.

The unique academic and industrial team will develop and commercialize one of the first high power (7-tesla) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) systems in the world and develop breakthrough technologies in molecular imaging used for research on cancer, cardiovascular disease, Alziemer's disease and other metabolic diseases of genetic origin.

"There is a new revolution in medical imaging allowing scientists to look at molecular processes in living animals and humans, including gene expression," said David Wilson, professor in the department of biomedical engineering and principal investigator of the CWRU project. "This partnership will establish high-tech in vivo cellular and molecular imaging, which will show molecular level changes in tissue and biological samples that signal disease-information that is very important in the scientific quest to improve the diagnosis, therapy and treatment of disease."

Michael Knopp, a professor of radiology, Novartis Chair and director of imaging research at OSU, will lead the project in Columbus. Robert Brown, CWRU professor in the department of physics, will work with Philips Medical Systems to develop computer simulation models that will assist the company in developing the cutting-edge 7-tesla human MRI system, which will be created at the Philips factory in Highland Heights, Ohio. A second system will be located at OSU.

The $70 million partnership is funded by a $17 million Wright Center grant from the State of Ohio and matching funds from the University and Philips Medical Systems.

"This new MRI technology will allow us to see inside the human brain and identify tissue differences two to three times better than we've ever been able to see in the past," said Brown.

"The system will allow us to take an image that is often more informative than what a surgeon would see with his naked eye through the process of invasive surgery. It has an extremely strong magnetic field and packs enormous power but the big benefit to patients is that early disease detection can lower the chances that a patient needs invasive surgery," he added.

CWRU is a lead institution in developing mouse models of human diseases including cancer and cardiovascular disease and applying that knowledge to human disease. University scientists also will work to develop new methods for assessing gene therapy, stem cell therapy, and drug delivery.

They also are enhancing Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging systems for mice and humans in partnership with Rexon Corporation in Cleveland. Wilson says that the new systems will enable researchers to gather quantitative measurement of molecular activities like gene expression inside living animals.

"This new Wright Center grant and several other established federal grants position Cleveland to continue to receive national funding for high tech imaging for healthcare," Wilson said. "We hope that having this new technology will foster biotech development in Northeast, Ohio, inspire new startup companies, and aid the development of the field of drug delivery and new high tech imaging agents," he added.

CWRU has had a long partnership with Philips Medical Systems. The company hires interns and coop students from the University and a large percentage of their technical employees are CWRU graduates.

The National Academy of Sciences assembled a team of its members that evaluated proposals for Wright Center funds based on technical merit as well as potential economic impact. Only one group received funding for biomedical imaging. The technology is so important for the understanding of disease and therapy that the National Institutes of Health recently recognized this with the creation of a new institute, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

"On the economic side, this Wright Center grant creates a powerful, extensive imaging and bioinformatics infrastructure that will integrate the state's scientific community into a virtual think tank for research and development," Wilson said. "The benefit to human health is that these new imaging agents will be targeted to specific diseases to improve diagnosis and staging of disease."

 

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