# Technology to Realize the Full Potential of UHF MRI

> **NIH NIH P41** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2024 · $1,352,447

## Abstract

ABSTRACT (OVERALL)
The long-term goal of this NCBIB is to establish a national resource for enabling UHF (7T and above) magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) technologies to advance biomedical research and discovery. We propose to build on
our successes in this renewal with four new closely linked technical research and development (TRD) projects.
These projects will work synergistically to realize the potential of our unique imaging resources which include
our 10.5 Tesla (currently the highest magnetic field available for human and large non-human primate (NHP)
imagining above 10T), and 16.4 Tesla for small to medium size animal models (one of two such high fields
systems in the world). TRD1 will undertake the development of a multimodal imaging with simultaneous MR and
novel electrodes and augment its current effort on large NHPs with a small NHP model, namely the marmosets,
for use in 16.4T MR and multiphoton optical imaging studies. The combination of non-invasive MR and an
invasive technology will provide access to neuronal activity from single neuron and synapse level over the entire
brain but at a coarser spatiotemporal resolution. This platform will provide opportunities for detailed studies of
brain function in NHP models and inform future human studies using MRI alone. TRD2 will develop new MR
contrasts and novel technologies for ultrahigh field applications, with a specific focus on selected technologies
that will have the greatest impact on associated collaborative and service projects. The effort will provide
unparalleled sensitivity to probe molecular and physiological parameters to characterize tissue, support
biomedical research and impact our understanding of the living system in health and disease. TRD3 has been
at the forefront of image reconstruction technologies, introducing multiple new methods for improved Deep
Learning (DL) reconstruction and training, interpretable image denoising, and fast iterative algorithms. TRD3 will
continue to tackle inverse problems through the lens of intelligent physics-driven technologies that synergistically
utilize imaging physics and advances in DL methods targeting target higher resolutions and acceleration rates
at lower signal-to-noise ratios (SNR), as well as to combine information across multiple nuclei or even modalities.
TRD4 provides critical engineering solutions addressing both radiofrequency (RF) coil (i.e. antennae) designs
and safety, towards capturing the significantly higher ultimate intrinsic SNR (uiSNR) provided by UHF. The effort
will employ novel RF electronics concepts including miniaturized integrated circuit low noise amplifiers and coil
clusters and explore new receiver concepts both for multinuclear and 1H imaging and spectroscopy studies at
the high magnetic fields of 10.5T, 7T and 16.4T. While the focus is on uniquely high magnetic fields, the impact
of this Center on biomedical research will extend to lower magnetic fields, as it has done so already, as well as
to field...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10769037
- **Project number:** 2P41EB027061-06
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Gregory John Metzger
- **Activity code:** P41 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,352,447
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2019-02-01 → 2029-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10769037

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10769037, Technology to Realize the Full Potential of UHF MRI (2P41EB027061-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-11 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10769037. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*