# Development of Enabling Technologies for Clinical Ultrahigh Field Body MRI

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2024 · $559,992

## Abstract

The advent of clinically approved imaging at 7 Tesla (7T) has been met with high expectations. The potential
benefits of increased signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), new contrasts and unprecedented resolution promise to extend
what once was a tool for biomedical research into an imaging device defining state of the art patient care. The
benefit of obtaining FDA approval is that it creates the opportunity for clinicians to investigate its true potential
and to discover the applications where it uniquely impacts patient care. The current FDA approval however is
only for head and knee applications, and even then, the MRI scanner is limited to using only a fraction of its
installed functionality. Parallel transmit (pTx), a functionality that can tackle some of the biggest challenges facing
ultrahigh field (UHF) MRI, has not been sufficiently developed, integrated and validated to safely use in the
clinical setting. These challenges such as non-uniform transmit fields and issues with local heating scale with
the size of the object being imaged. While imaging the head and knee can manage without this functionality, pTx
it is an absolute necessity for applications in the human torso. While 7T has shown great potential at imaging
targets in the torso in the research setting, there is the critical question of how to expand upon these promising
results. We believe that several enabling technologies need to be further developed and integrated prior to
obtaining FDA approval. These developments are addressed in three technical aims. The first is the development
and optimization of radiofrequency (RF) coils to efficiently transmit RF energy into and receive signals from the
body in order to realize the promised gains in SNR compared to lower field strengths. The second is the
construction of a virtual database of human body models and strategies for overcoming the current limitations of
assuming overly restrictive safety factors when attempting to use the pTx system. The third involves integrating
pTx functionality into an extended multi-parametric prostate imaging protocol and motion compensation
strategies through sequence tailored pTx solutions and optimization. A final translational aim will use the prostate
as a testbed to explore the RF coils and pTx enabled sequences in a patient study comparing cancer detection
and imaging metrics with the same patients imaged at 3T. Upon successful completion of these developmental
and translational aims, we will have overcome the barriers to enabling clinical torso imaging at UHF and verified
its effective use in a clinical setting. The outcomes of this project will be critical component in expanding the FDA
approved indications for 7T. Once in the hands of clinicians, establishing the unique impact of UHF imaging on
patient outcomes will greatly benefit from being able to use 7T as a front-line scanning modality.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10782446
- **Project number:** 5R01EB029985-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Gregory John Metzger
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $559,992
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-04-15 → 2025-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10782446

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10782446, Development of Enabling Technologies for Clinical Ultrahigh Field Body MRI (5R01EB029985-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10782446. Licensed CC0.

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