Department of Radiology: MR Research

: Director: John Oshinski, PhD

The MR Research Group has been in existence since 1984. The focus of this group is the development of translational applications of MR science and technology. Major areas of investigation and development include: cardiovascular, neurological, and body MRI, as well as MR spectroscopy, contrast agent development, and small animal imaging. The MR group is highly collaborative, with projects spanning multiple departments within the university. The majority of projects are focused on developing new imaging methods to diagnose disease and understand disease pathophysiology. The MR research group provides expertise in the use of 1.5T and 3.0T clinical whole body MRI scanners. The group also has a 4.7T Varian Inova small animal system, a contrast agent development lab, and MR-compatible flow and motion systems for phantom studies.

Imaging of Cardiac Dyssynchrony

Determination of Aortic Pulse Wave Velocity as a Marker or of Vascular Compliance

Developing MRI Based Methodology for Molecular and Cellular Imaging with Novel MRI Contrast Agents

Analysis of Dynamic Contrast-enhanced Renal MR Images for Determination of Renal Function and Diagnosis of Renal Disease

Imaging of Cardiac Function and Blood Flow in Mice

Investigation of the Environmental and Genetic Basis of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) through the Emory NAFLD Research Group: a Multidisciplinary Project Uniting Liver Experts

Principal Investigators: Diego Martin, MD; Miriam Vos, MD
Co-Investigators: Xiaoping Hu; PhD, Rene Romero, MD; Jennifer Buechner, RD, CSP; Enrique Martinez, MD; James Spivey, MD; Frank Anania, MD; Andy Muir, MD; Mark Bouzyk, PhD; Veda Johnson, MD; Thomas Heffron, MD; Bahig Shehata, MD

This is a cross-departmental collaborative project funded by the Woodruff Fund for one year to support the initiatives of Visions 2012. The departmental contributors include members from Radiology, Pediatrics, Medicine, Center for Medical Genomics, General Pediatrics, Transplant Surgery and Pathology.

Obesity and liver disease related to NAFLD is highly prevalent and represents a major and growing disease burden in the U.S., including children. The etiology of disease, the factors leading to individual risk and therapy are not yet well understood. This project objective includes the formulation of a comprehensive liver expert multi-disciplinary program to address these problems. Successful implementation and validation of imaging diagnostic technology in pediatric and adult NAFLD patients will allow us to pursue predictive modeling, evaluate the genetic basis of the disease, investigate its cellular-biochemical composition, therapeutic strategies, and facilitate therapy monitoring. Current technology is not suitable for these endeavors.

To top

Expertise in image acquisition and analysis of Cardiovascular, Neurological, and Body MRI on 1.5T and 3T whole body systems.

Access to clinical whole body MRI scanners

Expertise in Cardiovascular, Spectroscopic, molecular imaging of small animals at 4.7T.

4.7T Varian Inova small animal system (including coils and physiologic gating and monitoring hardware).

Zheng QY, Ding D, Yu H, Salvi RJ, Johnson KR. A locus on distal chromosome 10 (ahl4) affecting age-related hearing loss in A/J mice.Neurobiol Aging. 2008 Feb 13; [Epub ahead of print]

Fornwalt BK, Cummings RM, Arita T, Delfino JG, Fyfe DA, Campbell RM, Strieper MJ, Oshinski JN, Frias PA. Acute Pacing-Induced Dyssynchronous Activation of the Left Ventricle Creates Systolic Dyssynchrony with Preserved Diastolic Synchrony. J Cardiovasc Electrophysiol. 2008 Feb 4.

Delfino JG, Fornwalt BK, Eisner RL, Leon AR, Oshinski JN. Determination of transmural, endocardial, and epicardial radial strain and strain rate from phase contrast MR velocity data. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2008 Jan 24; [Epub ahead of print]

Delfino JG, Johnson KR, Eisner RL, Eder S, Leon AR, Oshinski JN. Three-directional Myocardial Phase-Contrast Tissue Velocity MR Imaging with Navigator-Echo Gating: In Vivo and in Vitro Study.Radiology. 2008 Jan 25; [Epub ahead of print]

Fornwalt BK, Thomas JA, Bhasin M, Merlino JD, Leon AR, Fyfe DA, Oshinski JN. Effects of Region of Interest Tracking on the Diagnosis of Left Ventricular Dyssynchrony from Doppler Tissue Images. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2008 Jan 8 [Epub ahead of print]

Fornwalt BK, Arita T, Bhasin M, Voulgaris G, Merlino JD, Leon AR, Fyfe DA, Oshinski JN. Cross-correlation quantification of dyssynchrony: a new method for quantifying the synchrony of contraction and relaxation in the heart. J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2007 Dec;20(12):1330-1337.e1. Epub 2007 Jul 23.

Johnson K, Sharma P, Oshinski JN. Coronary artery flow measurement using navigator echo gated phase contrast magnetic resonance velocity mapping at 3.0T. J Biomech. 2007 Nov 21

Sun B, Giddens DP, Long R Jr, Taylor WR, Weiss D, Joseph G, Vega D, Oshinski JN. Automatic plaque characterization employing quantitative and multicontrast MRI. Magn Reson Med. 2008 Jan;59(1):174-80.

To top