7T MRI Imaging in Patients with MND to identify Non-Invasive Disease Biomarkers of Disease.
About the project
The project will involve high field ( 7 Tesla ) MRI imaging and spectroscopic techniques to develop non-invasive biomarkers of motor neuron disease. We will explore mineral deposition in the motor cortex using susceptibility weighted imaging and quantitative susceptibility mapping. In addition, the metabolic profile of the motor cortex of individuals who have Motor Neuron Disease will be studied using MRI spectroscopy. These studies can be performed non-invasively in living patients and the plan is to perform repeat assessments over a time interval to study any changes that may evolve. We hope to investigate patients with differing presentations, sporadic, those with known genetic causes in addition to differing patterns PLS, ALS, and PMA variations.
