Bas' research interests focus on the development and application of hyperpolarized substances in MR imaging. 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 from these two isotopes 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 academia experience, Bas has developed an interest 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 hyperpolarized ³He imaging in mouse and rat models of pulmonary diseases, such as asthma, COPD, and fibrosis. 

Recent publications:

• 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, GP Cofer, N Mistry, D Schwartz, GA Johnson, Hyperpolarized ³He MR imaging of methacholine challenge in a mouse model of asthma, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, in press 2007.

Boma's interest is in MR histology. By vascular perfusion of an animal with a gadolinium chelate in the fixative, the resulting magnetic resonance images of the brain sections can resemble traditional histology.

Before coming to the Center for In Vivo Microscopy, Boma worked in neurobiology research laboratories for several years doing histochemistry on brain sections. Boma finds it very interesting that with the aid of a contrast agent, and by manipulation of certain imaging parameters, brain sections can be obtained by MR, so that any neuroscientist can look at and recognize internal structures.

Sally is involved in computer-related aspects of the Center, including writing
code to reconstruct collected MRM data into images and writing programs to manipulate and archive images. Recently she created an Oracle image database to help the lab track its results. Last time she looked, the database referenced over 200,000 images from over a thousand subjects.

The 3D image volumes collected at CIVM rely on volume rendering for exploration. Sally applies and helps others apply visualization tools to 3D data.
To share results, she creates image compositions, diagrams, and animations.

In helping outside investigators CIVM apply MRM to their studies, one of her longest and favorite collaborations was in cochlear research.

Dr. Hedlund is a professor in Radiology at the Duke University Medical Center, and is also Associate Director of the Center for In Vivo Microscopy. In the Center, Dr. Hedlund is responsible for Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) certification of all live animal studies.

His research interests include in vivo imaging (MR and x-ray) of major organ systems in relation to environmental and drug effects. He also develops physiologic monitoring and support technologies used for live animal imaging.

Marcy is the grants administrator for the Center. She prepares the financial documents for submission to granting agencies, coordinates financial data analysis, handles procurement for both large equipment and research supplies, and keeps the office running smoothly. She also keeps the office candy dish full (which makes the staff happy). Marcy has received Research Costing Compliance (RCC) certification through the Duke program.

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

Yi’s research focuses on diffusion tensor microscopy, particularly of mouse heart, mouse embryo and mouse brain, and atlas construction.

Publications

• Y Jiang, K Pandya, O Smithies, EW Hsu, Three-dimensional diffusion tensor microscopy of fixed mouse hearts. Magn Reson Med, 52(3):453-460, 2004

• Y Jiang, EW Hsu, Accelerating MR diffusion tensor imaging via filtered reduced encoding projection reconstruction. Magn Reson Med, 53 (1): 93-102 2005
• Y Jiang, JM Guccione, M B Ratcliffe, EW Hsu, Transmural Heterogeneity of Diffusion Anisotropy in the Sheep Myocardium Characterized by MR Diffusion Tensor Imaging. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, 293 (4): H2377-H2384
• Y Jiang, S Joshi, K Pandya, O Smithies, EW Hsu, Group average and principal component analysis of the mouse myocardial fiber structures by DTI. Proceedings of Biomed Eng Soc 2007

Dr. Mukundan develops new molecular imaging probes for micro-CT and MRI. His recent success with iodine-loaded liposomes has provided some of the best tumor visualization yet seen with CT. His chemistry background is being applied to increasing lifetime for the agents in the blood pool, novel methods to measure tumor permeability, and new approaches to active targeting. His active role in clinical neuroradiology provides the Center another critical connection to the clinical domain, so necessary for effective translation to the medical community.

Dr. Shofer is currently completing his fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine. Having been trained in biochemistry as well as medicine, his research focuses on the development of in vivo small animal imaging techniques for the study of pulmonary fibrotic and vascular diseases. In addition to conducting his own work, Dr. Shofer assists others in the Center in bridging the specialties of medicine, biology, and engineering to advance our understanding of pulmonary diseases.

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 database servers.

Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, (1997, BE Chemical Engineering)
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Electrical Engineering (2003, MS; 2005 PhD)

Steve's responsibilities include methodology development (hardware design and data processing strategies) for fluorescence/diffuse optical tomography and multimodality imaging.

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, and grants that deal with the Center and the activities of the people who work here. Sally also interfaces with long- and short-term visitors to the Center, and handles all aspects of training activities.

PhD candidate, Biomedical Engineeering

Libby is a 5th year graduate student working on 3D plus time imaging of the mouse heart using radial trajectories. Recently, she has produced isotropic 87- micron images of the mouse heart at 8 time points. She is currently working with Dr. Howard Rockman's lab (Cardiology) to apply her 4D imaging technique to visualize the hearts of genetically modified mice.

MD candidate, University School of Medicine
PhD candidate, Biomedical Engineering

Gabe's personal web page: http://www.duke.edu/~ghowles/

PhD candidate, Biomedical Engineering'

Sam's 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. His background is in computer science.

Ming's personal web page contains specific information about his research: www.duke.edu/~MDL11

Ming's background is in biomedical and electrical engineering and he has also worked at GE Medical Systems. He has helped develop an x-ray system explicitly for small animal imaging using digital subtraction angiography (DSA). This focus has a multidisciplinary approach ranging from x-ray physics to small animal physiology, and includes optimizing x-ray beams, small animal physiological support and monitoring systems, a high-precision micro power contrast injector, functional physiological measurements, an image archival system, and integrating all hardware and software components. His work with the physiological support and monitoring systems will transfer to our MRI and PET systems. Ming is involved in building the computer infrastructure, x-ray generator controls, and small animal physiological monitoring system for the 2nd generation microCT. He also maintains the x-ray and the micro-CT infrastructure and computer systems.

Nilesh's personal web page: http://www.duke.edu/~nnm2

Nilesh explores various imaging techniques to perform functional phenotyping for cardiopulmonary systems. He is developing efficient k-space acquisition techniques using under-sampled radial trajectories combined with view-sharing data reconstruction techniques. These techniques improve the spatial and temporal resolution in the rodent to image ventilation using hyperpolarized gases and to image perfusion using dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging.

Nilesh’s interests also include study of cardiac motion, image registration, non-rigid deformation models, morphometry and brain atlasing, and diffusion tensor imaging.

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 magnetic resonance imaging. His focus was on 3-Helium polarization, handling, and delivery.

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

Prachi's current research involves designing ultra short echo sequences for efficient multi-slice imaging by reducing scan times. Techniques involve optimizing RF pulses and gradient ramp strategies to improve timing efficiency.

Alexandra developied a 4D atlas of the developing mouse using MR microscopy. The atlas covers pre-natal development from embryonic day 10.5 through embryonic day 19.5, and post-natal development from birth to 32 days. This work involves developing staining methods to increase the SNR and CNR for imaging at high resolution. These methods use a paramagnetic contrast agent that alters tissue properties, which results in enhanced SNR and CNR and allows short scan times for high-throughput studies.

Alex's dissertation was on "Magnetic Resonance Atlas of the Developing Mouse." She is now working as a post-doctoral fellow, Research & Development, Dept of Neuroscience Sanofi-Aventis, Vitry-sur-Seine, France. She can be reached at alexandra.petiet@gmail.com.