The BBI-Small Animal Magnetic Resonance Imaging Core facilitates research at the intersection of biological imaging and analytical methodologies through non-invasive anatomical, functional and connectomic analysis. At right, BBI-SAMRI director Dr. Konstantin Cherkas discusses the rat brain CryoProbe, a highlight of the facility, at the core's launch on April 26, 2022.
The BBI-SAMRI employs the highly versatile Bruker BioSpec 94/30, which boasts 9.4T of imaging power and a 30cm inner gradient diameter with an innovative modular concept for gradient inserts.
With a liquid helium-cooled coil (CryoProbe) to boost signal as much as 25-fold and the capacity to image across a range of animal models, the BBI-SAMRI is ideally situated to promote complementation with imaging modalities on the sixth-floor vivarium, including PET, ultrasound and two-photon microscopy.
Preclinical MR imaging offered by the BBI facility enables the acquisition of longitudinal data, the minimization of experimental subjects, a reduction in biological variability and the promotion of clinical translation. Applications include imaging central nervous system development and aging, neuroinflammation, photodynamic therapies and immune engineering.