Preclinical Imaging System for USC

The Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute (ZNI) at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) has ordered a high-powered 7T, cryogen-free, preclinical PET-MRI multi-modality imaging system from MR Solutions.

The simultaneous acquisition of PET and MR images marries the exquisite sensitivity of PET with the high spatial resolution and soft tissue contrast of MRI. MR Solutions is the only company in the world to be able to deliver this ground breaking cryogen free technology.

Dr. Russell Jacobs, Professor of Research Physiology and Biophysics at the Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute commented: “In collaboration with MR Solutions we are seeking to optimise imaging tools and apply them in preclinical model systems in such a manner that they are directly useable in the clinic. We are working in collaboration with a number of researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC on a wide range of applications. Among them are elucidating disease etiology in mouse and rat models of Alzheimer’s disease; imaging assays of in vivo effects of several neuroprotection schemes in stroke; refinement of methodologies to delineate neuronal pathways and how they go wrong in disease and with aging; and the development and testing of novel cancer immunotherapies.”

The Zilkha Neurogenetic Institute is a world leader in the field of neuroscience research, with multi-disciplinary research teams who study the cause and effect of neurodegenerative disease and psychiatric disorders as well as potential therapies. Students and world class researchers study the circuitry and mechanisms of the brain and neurological disorders with research undertaken in laboratories within the ZNI.