Dr. Johnson is Director of the Center for In Vivo Microscopy, an NIH/NCRR/NIBIB-funded National Biomedical Technology Resource Center (P41 EB0015897), now into its 23rd year of funding. He received a PhD in Physics from Duke University in 1974 in electron spin resonance under Walter Gordy and has been in the Department of Radiology since 1974, where he is currently Director of Diagnostic Physics. He holds joint appointments in Radiology, Physics, and Biomedical Engineering as the Charles E. Putman University Professor, and he is co-author on over 300 peer-reviewed papers (see PubMed for more information about some of these publications).

Dr. Johnson's research involves magnetic resonance histology (MRH), the application of MR microscopy to study tissue architecture. Using MRH for morphologic phenotyping in the mouse was first suggested by Dr. Johnson and his colleagues in Radiology 222(3): 789-793, March 2002. A publication of our Waxholm Space (WHS) atlas of the C57BL mouse brain was created in conjunction with the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF) digital brain atlasing program to be the center of a digital atlasing architecture to share mouse brain data with the scientific research community. A figure from this article was chosen as the cover of the November 2010 issue, and supplemental data is available to share with researchers.

919 684-7654
alexandra.badea@duke.edu

Alexandra's uses MR microscopy to image the rodent brain, including its vasculature. She studies the morphometry of the rodent brain and its anatomical variability in normal states, and also in human disease models. These studies require several steps: imaging protocols for optimal contrast, brain segmentation, registration, statistical analysis, and atlasing. See below for some of her publications.

• A Badea, PJ Nicholls, GA Johnson, WC Wetsel, Neuroanatomical phenotypes in the Reeler mouse, NeuroImage 34(4):1363-1374, 2007. Supplement
• A Badea, AA Ali Sharief, AM Dale, GA Johnson, Morphometric analysis of the C57BL/6J mouse brain, NeuroImage 37(3): 683–693, 2007. Supplement

• AA Sharief, A Badea, AM Dale, GA Johnson, Automated segmentation of the actively stained mouse brain using multi-spectral MR microscopy, NeuroImage 39(1): 136-1451, 2008
• A Badea, GA Johnson, RW Williams, Genetic dissection of the mouse brain using high-field magnetic resonance microscopy. NeuroImage. 45(4):1067-1079, 2009
• A Badea, GA Johnson, JL Jankowsky, Remote sites of structural atrophy predict later amyloid formation in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Neuroimage 50: 416-427, 2010. Supplement
• DM Bowden, GA Johnson, L Zaborsky, WDK Green, E Moore, A Badea, MF Dubach, FL. Bookstein. A symmetrical Waxholm canonical mouse brain for NeuroMaps, Journal of Neuroscience Methods 195(2): 170-175, 15 February 2011.
• A Badea, GA Johnson, Review Article: Magnetic resonance microscopy, Analytical Cellular Pathology 34 1-23, 2011, online before print
• GA Johnson, A Badea, Y Jiang, Quantitative neuromorphometry using MR histology, Toxicol Pathol 39(1):85-91, 2011
• M Poot, A Badea, RW Williams, MJ Kas, Identifying human disease genes through cross-species gene mapping of evolutionary conserved processes, PLoS One. 6(5):e18612, 2011, Free PMC article
• T Wu, MH Bae, M Zhang, R Pan, A Badea. A prior feature SVM-MRF based method for mouse brain segmentation. Neuroimage. 59(3):2298-2306, 2012

Cristian's research includes x-ray-based methods for small animal morphological and functional imaging. His interests include CT, digital tomosynthesis, digital subtraction angiography, and image reconstruction algorithms. He designs and implements new systems and methods for in vivo dynamic high-resolution imaging using microCT and x-ray angiography.

His current work involves a new microCT-based method for mouse cardiac phenotyping. The unique microCT system developed at CIVM was used to produce the 1st in vivo cine microCT of the mouse heart with isotropic resolution of 100 microns and temporal resolution of 10 ms. Cristian's work also involves quantitative 4D tumor imaging using digital subtraction angiography and microCT.

Selected Publications:

• Lin M, Marshall CT, Qi Y, Johnston SM, Badea CT, Piantadosi CA, Johnson GA. Quantitative blood flow measurements in the small animal cardiopulmonary system using digital subtraction angiography. Med Phys. 2009; 36(11):5347-58
• Zhang X, Badea C. Effects of sampling strategy on image quality in noncontact panoramic fluorescence diffuse optical tomography for small animal imaging, Opt Express. 2009; 30;17(7):5125-38
• X Zhang, CT Badea, GA Johnson, Three-dimensional reconstruction in free-space whole-body fluorescence tomography of mice using optically reconstructed surface and atlas anatomy, J Biomed Opt. 2009;14(6):064010.
• CT Badea, SM Johnston, E Subashi, et al., Lung perfusion imaging in small animals using 4D micro-CT at heartbeat temporal resolution, Medical Physics, 2010; 37(1): 54-62 Free PMC Article
• SM Johnston, BA Perez, DG Kirsch, CT Badea, Phase-selective image reconstruction of the lungs in small animals using micro-CT; Medical Imaging 2010: Physics of Medical Imaging, Proc SPIE 2010; 7622, 76223G, 7622 76223G-1-9.
• SM Johnston, GA Johnson, CT Badea, GPU-based iterative reconstruction with total variation minimization for micro-CT, Proc. SPIE 2010; 7622, 762238
• CT Badea, LW Hedlund, J Cook, BR Berridge, GA Johnson, Micro-CT imaging assessment of dobutamine-induced cardiac stress in rats, J Pharm Toxicol Methods 2011; 63(1):24-29
• CT Badea, K Ghaghada, G Espinosa, et al. Multi-modality PET-CT imaging of breast cancer in an animal model using nanoparticle x-ray contrast agent and 18F-FDG Proc. SPIE 7965, 796511, 2011
• CT Badea, SM Johnston, Y Qi, et al., Dual-energy micro-CT for differentiation of iodine- and gold-based nanoparticles temporal and spectral reconstruction algorithms for x-ray CT, Proc. SPIE 7961, 79611X, 2011
• CT Badea, SM Johnston, Y Qi, GA Johnson, 4D micro-CT for cardiac and perfusion applications with view under sampling, Phys Med Biol 56(11): 3351-3369, 2011
• CT Badea, LW Hedlund, Y Qi, B Berridge, GA Johnson, In vivo imaging of rat coronary arteries using bi-plane digital subtraction angiography, J Pharma Toxicol Methods, Jun 13. [Epub ahead of print]
• Ghaghada KB, Badea CT, Karumbaiah L, Fettig N, Bellamkonda RV, Johnson GA, Annapragada A, Evaluation of tumor microenvironment in an animal model using a nanoparticle contrast agent in CT imaging, Acad Radiol Jan;18(1):20-30, 2011. Free PMC Article

This past summer, Dr. Badea participated in an annual course sponsored by the National Cancer Institute; June 28, 2011. See this article in the NCI Cancer Bulletin, Imaging Boot Camp for Cancer Researchers

919 684-7672
james.cook@duke.edu

Bas' research focuses on developing and applying hyperpolarized (HP) substances in MR imaging (MRI). His background is in the atomic physics of producing hyperpolarized noble gases 3He and 129Xe. Hyperpolarization, which involves aligning nuclei to a high degree, enhances the MRI signal by 5-6 orders of magnitude, which enables high-resolution imaging despite the low density of gases compared to water (the ordinary signal source in MRI).  

With industry and academic experience, Bas' interests span not only in attacking the basic physics problems of these gases, but in their large-scale development and application to biomedical problems. Current work involves high-resolution HP 3He imaging in mouse and rat models of pulmonary diseases, such as asthma, COPD, and fibrosis.

Selected publications:

• SS Kaushik, ZI Cleveland, GP Cofer, G Metz, D Beaver, J Nouls, M Kraft, J Wolber, KT Kelly, W Auffermann, HP McAdams, B Driehuys, Diffusion weighted imaging of hyperpolarized 129Xe in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Magn Reson Med, 65(4):1154-1165, 2011
• AC Thomas, JC Nouls, B Driehuys, Voltz JW, B Fubara, J Foley, JA Bradbury, DC Zeldin, Ventilation defects observed with hyperpolarized 3He magnetic resonance imaging in a mouse model of acute lung injury, Am J Respir Cell Mol. Biol 44(5):648-54, 2011
• W Zheng, ZI Cleveland, HE Moller, B Driehuys, Gradient-induced longitudinal relaxation of hyperpolarized noble gases in the fringe fields of superconducting magnets used for magnetic resonance. J Magn Reson 208(2):284-290, 2011
• RT Branca, ZI Cleveland, B Fubara, et al., Molecular MRI for sensitive and specific detection of lung metastases, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 23;107(8):3693-3697, 2010. Free Article
• ZI Cleveland, GP Cofer, G Metz, D Beaver, J Nouls, S Kaushik, M Kraft, J Wolber, KT Kelly, HP McAdams, B Driehuys, Hyperpolarized 129Xe MR imaging of alveolar gas uptake in humans, PLoS ONE 5(8): e12192. Aug 16 2010 Free article
• NN Mistry, A Thomas, SS Kaushik, GA Johnson, B Driehuys, Quantitative analysis of hyperpolarized 3He ventilation changes in mice challenged with Methacholine, Magn Reson Med 63:658–666, 2010. Free PMC article
• B Driehuys, H Moeller, J Pollaro, Z Cleveland, LW Hedlund, MR imaging of pulmonary perfusion and Xenon gas exchange in rats by intravenous injection of hyperpolarized 129Xe , Radiology 252(2): 386-393, 2009. Free PMC article
• ZI Cleveland, HE Moeller, L Hedlund, B Driehuys. Continuously infusing hyperpolarized 129xe into flowing aqueous solutions using hydrophobic gas exchange membranes. Journal of Physical Chemistry B 113(37):12489-12499, 2009, Free PMC article
• AC Thomas, EN Potts, BT Chen, DM Slipetz, WM Foster, B Driehuys, A robust protocol for regional evaluation of methacholine challenge in mouse models of allergic asthma using hyperpolarized He-3 MRI. NMR Biomed 22(5):502-515, 2009
• AH Couture, TB Clegg, B Driehuys, Pressure Shifts and Broadening of the Cs D1 and D2 Lines by He, N2 and Xe at Densities used for Optical Pumping and Spin Exchange Polarization. J Appl Phys 104(14):094912, 2008
• B Driehuys, J Pollaro, GP Cofer, In vivo MRI using real-time production of hyperpolarized Xe-129. Magn Reson Med 60:14-20, 2008
• B Driehuys, J Nouls, A Badea, et al., Small-animal imaging with MR microscopy, ILAR Journal 49(1):35-53, 2008
• B Driehuys, LW Hedlund, Imaging techniques for small animal models of pulmonary disease: MR microscopy, invited paper: Toxicologic Pathology 35(1): 49-58, 2007
  
• B Driehuys, J Walker, J Pollaro, et al., Hyperpolarized ³He MR imaging of methacholine challenge in a mouse model of asthma, Magn Reson Med, 58(5):893-900, 2007

Tawynna is the grants and financial administrator for the Center. She prepares the financial documents to submit to funding agencies, coordinates financial data analysis, handles procurement for both large equipment and research supplies, and keeps the lab running smoothly.

If you need to see someone in the Center, your first stop will probably be with Tawynna.

Dr. Hedlund is retired as a Professor of Radiology, but now has the status of Professor Emeritus of Radiology. Larry is still working with the Center, and continues to be responsible for Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) certification of all live animal studies. He also develops physiologic monitoring and support technologies used for live animal imaging.

Selected publications:

• Z Cleveland, HE Moller, LW Hedlund, JC Nouls, MS Freeman, Y Qi, B Driehuys, In vivo MR imaging of pulmonary perfusion and gas exchange in rats via continuous extracorporeal infusion of hyperpolarized 129Xe, PLoS ONE 7(2): e31306, 2012, Open access article
• CT Badea, LW Hedlund, J Cook, et al., Micro-CT imaging assessment of dobutamine-induced cardiac stress in rats, J Pharmal Tox Methods. 63(1):24-29, 2011
• J Nouls, M Fanarjian, L Hedlund, A constant-volume ventilator and gas recapture system for hyperpolarized gas MRI of mouse and rat lungs, Concepts in Magn Reson Part B: Magn Reson Eng, 39B(2): 78-88, 2011, Supplemental data
• CT Badea, LW Hedlund, Y Qi, B Berridge, GA Johnson, In vivo imaging of rat coronary arteries using bi-plane digital subtraction angiography, J Pharma Toxicol Methods, 64(2): 151-157, 2011
• CT Badea, SM Johnston, E Subashi, Y Qi, LW Hedlund, GA Johnson, Lung perfusion imaging in small animals using 4D micro-CT at heartbeat temporal resolution, Medical Physics 37(1): 54-62, 2010
• Z Cleveland, H Moller, L Hedlund, B Driehuys, Continuously infusing hyperpolarized 129Xe into flowing aqueous solutions using hydrophobic gas exchange membranes, J Phys Chem B, 113(37): 12489-99, 2009
• B Driehuys, H Moeller, J Pollaro, Z Cleveland, LW Hedlund, MR imaging of pulmonary perfusion and Xenon gas exchange in rats by intravenous injection of hyperpolarized 129Xe , Radiology 252(2): 386-393, 2009
• B Driehuys, J Nouls, A Badea, A Petiet, E Bucholz, K Ghagada, L Hedlund, Small-animal imaging with magnetic resonance microscopy, invited paper, ILAR Journal 49(1):35-53, 2008
• LW Hedlund, T Gluckman, Basics of Small Animal Handling for In Vivo Imaging, Chapter 24, pp. 377-390, in: Molecular Imaging in Oncology, M Pomper, J Gelovani (Eds), Informa Healthcare, New York, NY, 2008

John's parents are Belgian, but he was born in California and grew up in Switzerland. He moved from Europe to North Carolina and worked as a research engineer for a medical imaging company developing hyperpolarized gas technology for MR imaging. His focus was on 3He polarization, handling, and delivery.

John's work concentrates on MR imaging. His research interests cover superconducting technology, hardware in the MR radiofrequency chain, coil design, and radiofrequency simulation. He uses and also develops high-temperature superconducting coils for MR microscopy.

Publications:

• SS Kaushik, ZI Cleveland, GP Cofer, G Metz, D Beaver, J Nouls, et al., Diffusion weighted imaging of hyperpolarized 129Xe in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Magn Reson Med 65(4):1154-65, 2011, if access available through Wiley Online Library
• J Nouls, M Fanarjian, L Hedlund, A constant-volume ventilator and gas recapture system for hyperpolarized gas MRI of mouse and rat lungs, Concepts in Magnetic Resonance Part B: Magnetic Resonance Engineering, 39B(2): 78–88, 2011, Supplementary data
• AC Thomas, JC Nouls, B Driehuys, et al., Ventilation defects observed with hyperpolarized 3He magnetic resonance imaging in a mouse model of acute lung injury, Am J Respir Cell Mol. Biol 44(5):648-54, 2011, data supplement If have access, journal text is available
• ZI Cleveland, GP Cofer, G Metz , D Beaver, J Nouls, et al., Hyperpolarized 129Xe MR imaging of alveolar gas uptake in humans, PLoS ONE 5(8): e12192. 16 Aug 2010 Free article
• GP Howles, JC Nouls, Y Qi, GA Johnson, Rapid production of specialized animal handling devices using computer-aided design and solid freeform fabrication, J Magn Reson Imag 30(2):466-471, 2009, Supplemental data Free PMC article
• B Driehuys, J Nouls, A Badea, et al., Small-animal imaging with magnetic resonance microscopy, invited paper, ILAR Journal Noninvasive Bioimaging of Laboratory Animals 49(1):35-53, 2008. Free PMC article
• JC Nouls, MG Izenson, HP Greeley, GA Johnson, Design of a superconducting volume coil for MR microscopy of the mouse brain, J Magn Reson 191 (2):231-238, 2008

919 684-7887
bpratt.duke@gmail.com

Becky takes care of the many tasks behind the scenes that keep the lab running.

919 684-7858
yi.qi@duke.edu

Yi is part of the biological support core and focuses on the surgery and setup of small animals for most of our imaging modalities, including micro-CT, MR, and digital subtraction angiography studies. Throughout the studies, Yi monitors the anesthesia, heart rate, temperature, and ventilation of the animals using custom-written LabVIEW programs.

Lucy has over 20 years of system/network administration experience. She maintains over 75 computer systems, including these operating systems—OS X, IRIX, Linux, Solaris, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. Lucy also maintains the Center’s e-mail, network, ftp, web, and Oracle/SQL database servers.

Sally has experience in technical and marketing writing, editing, graphics, and instructional design. She uses these skills to enhance all forms of communication, journal articles, grants, and reports that deal with the Center and the activities of the people who work here. Sally is the contact person to initiate projects with the Center, interfaces with long- and short-term visitors to the Center, and handles all aspects of training activities.

Evan is part of the Medical Scientist Training Program, which leads to MD and PhD degrees. One of his studies with MR imaging involves longitudinal diffusion tensor imaging of blast-induced traumatic brain injury in a mouse model.

As part of the MR team, Russell works to exploit the usefulness of signal phase information acquired from gradient echo MRI of the brain. The signal phase reveals anatomic structures, tissue compositions, and potential markers for brain pathologies that may not typically be visible in corresponding magnitude images.

Using a multi-echo sequence, Russell acquires gradient echo image volumes at multiple time points within a single scan, then employs several mathematical tools to transform that data into enhanced magnitude, phase, and susceptibility images with reduced noise. Russell's 4-D datasets also allow him to investigate T2* in the adult mouse brain. Russell also investigates the effect of magnetic field strength and contrast agent concentration on the susceptibility of brain tissues.

919 684-7687
msf19@duke.edu

PhD candidate - Medical Physics

Matt is part of the hyperpolarized team under direction of Dr. Bastiaan Driehuys. His research focuses on the translation of hyperpolarized gas MR imaging to the brain, specifically looking at imaging 129Xe in the dissolved phase for the purposes of Alzheimer's Disease diagnosis and monitoring. Matt's work so far has focused on the mathematical modeling of our polarizer performance, in-vivo SPION imaging studies with both 129Xe and 3He, brown fat spectroscopy, and the construction of a 1-liter hyperpolarized gas resolution phantom. Currently Matt is designing a dual-tuned RF coil capable of transmitting at the proton and xenon resonances in our beloved 2T magnet, Onnes. This photo shows Matt with our preclinical polarizer.

Sam's background is in computer science. His current research involves the improvement of resolution, contrast, and calibration of x-ray computed tomography. His long-term interest is the generation and analysis of neuronal maps from imaging data.

Publications:

• CT Badea, SM Johnston, Y Qi, K Ghaghada, GA Johnson, Dual-energy micro-CT imaging for differentiation of iodine- and gold-based nanoparticles temporal and spectral reconstruction algorithms for x-ray CT, Proc. SPIE 7961, 79611X, 2011
• CT Badea, SM Johnston, Y Qi, GA Johnson, 4D micro-CT for cardiac and perfusion applications with view under sampling, Physics in Medicine and Biology 56(11): 3351–3369, 2011
• SM Johnston, CT Badea, Temporal and spectral reconstruction algorithms for x-ray CT, Proc. SPIE 7961, 79611U, 2011

Sivaram hails from Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India. He completed his Masters in Biomedical Engineering at Duke in 2009, with research focused on image processing and quantitative analysis of hyperpolarized gas MRI. He stayed in the Center as a research associate for one year, during which time he was also responsible for the operation of the xenon polarizers for a phase I clinical trial. His PhD research continues to focus on hyperpolarized gas MRI.

His primary areas of interests are in pulse sequence development, accelerated imagng and reconstruction, and development of diffusion-weighted 129Xe MRI. Now in the BME Ph.D. program, his research continues on hyperpolarized gas MRI. His primary areas of interests are developing pulse sequences, accelerated imaging and reconstruction, and developing diffusion-weighted 129Xe MRI.

Publication: SS Kaushik, ZI Cleveland, GP Cofer, et al., Diffusion weighted imaging of hyperpolarized 129Xe in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Magn Reson Med, 65(4):1154-1165, 2011. If have access, Free text from Wiley Online Library

Ergys is exploring the feasibility of the integration of different modalities and/or MR contrast mechanisms to extract functional and quantitative parameters in tumors. Dynamic contrast enhanced and diffusion MRI currently appear to offer the greatest potential for functional/quantitative tumor imaging. CT perfusion techniques also seem suitable for this application.

The incorporation of high-resolution structural imaging (as done previously by other students in our lab) offers the possibility to correlate the observed functional measures to anatomical landmarks.

Luke is part of the MR team. One of his studies involves identifying age-related nephropathy in Sprague-Dawley rats using magnetic resonance histology (MRH). High-resolution MRH can be used to assess renal architecture, and the onset nephropathy due to aging of the kidney. This work established the foundation of MRH in high-throughput quantitative measurements and screening for safety effects.

919 536-2214
rsv4@duke.edu

Rohan is from the Indian state of Goa, the ‘pearl of the east.’ He is working with the hyperpolarized team with image processing, quantification and statistical analysis of hyperpolarized gas MRI images and the operation of the Xenon polarizer for clinical trials and studies.