Two Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) R’Equip Funding Awards were granted for the acquisition of MRI equipment. The equipment supports the overall strategy of the CIBM, to invest and provide access to state-of-the-art infrastructure for biomedical imaging technology in the Lemanic region.
ULTRA LOW-FIELD MRI
Professor Matthias Stuber, CIBM MRI CHUV-UNIL Section Head and collaborators have received FNS R’Equip funding for the project Low-Field MRI – The Next Frontier.
The R’Equip grant will contribute to the acquisition of the Siemens MAGNETOM Free. Max 0.55T ultra low field MRI system which will be hosted at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV).
Matthias Stuber shares “I am extremely proud that we were able to assemble 13 outstanding interdisciplinary co-investigators to research the boundaries of new low-field MRI that benefits from staggering advances in hardware, software, methodology, and artificial intelligence. Through that research, we will not only make new discoveries but also implement award-winning CIBM-CHUV technology to bridge education gaps and to help disseminate affordable and green MRI more globally and in regions that have not traditionally had access to this non-invasive and radiation-free technology.”
Collaborators who shall deploy the equipment to conduct research include the following members of different departments and services at CHUV-UNIL: Dr. Meritxell Bach Cuadra, Dr. Fabio Becce, Dr. Catherine Beigelman-Aubry, Prof. Patric Hagmann, Prof. Antoine Lutti, Dr. Patrick Omoumi, Dr. Jonas Richiardi, Dr. Tobias Rutz, Prof. Jürg Schwitter, Dr. Constantin Tuleasca, Dr. Ruud van Heeswijk and Dr. Jérôme Yerly.
This equipment will allow the CIBM Community to perform outstanding research in the domain of ultra low-field MRI.
ADVANCED MRI FOR NEUROSCIENCE
Professor Patrik Vuilleumier, Co-Director of the Brain Behavior Laboratory, University of Geneva and collaborators have received the FNS R’Equip funding for the project Advanced MRI for neuroscience of cognition and emotion: From brain circuits to clinical disorders and interventions.
The R’Equip grant will be used to upgrade the MAGNETOM Trio to MAGNETOM Prismafit at the Brain and Behaviour Laboratory (BBL), University of Geneva.
Patrik Vuilleumier says, “This development will provide novel imaging tools to expand fundamental and clinical research on human brain functions and dysfunctions, leading not only to better understanding but also to innovative treatment approaches of neurological and psychiatric disorders including neurofeedback protocols with real-time fMRI. Various projects led by several research groups in the lemanic area will benefit from the new MRI capabilities at BBL, including research on emotion, visual attention, vocal communication, sleep and dreaming, brain plasticity, spinal cord functions, or MRI-EEG multimodal imaging methodology.”
Collaborators who shall deploy the equipment to conduct research include the following members of different laboratories at UNIGE: Prof. Didier Maurice Grandjean, Dr. Frédéric Grouiller, Prof. François Lazeyras, Prof. David Sander, Prof. Sophie Schwartz, and Prof. Dimitri Van de Ville as well as Principal Investigators from HUG, FPSE (UNIGE), and HES (Geneva).
The R’Equip project proposal highlighted the synergy between the CIBM and the BBL which is a result of a long-lasting collaboration between the two groups, one bringing expertise in MRI methodology and the other in cognitive neuroscience. Furthermore it will maintain the quality of this exceptional tool that will be beneficial for a large number of research groups from several disciplines.
CIBM Council and Strategy Committee members congratulate all teams in the founding partner institutions for the collaborative efforts which led to their success.