Main Menu

The technology relates to the first radioligands that can be used to image and quantify the enzyme phosphodiesterase subtype D (PDE4D). The PDE4D proteins have a role in carrying out signal transduction pathways in several cell types and is thought to be the key target of various antidepressants. Current work with imaging the radioligands in monkey brains using positron emission tomography (PET) has been successful, and further work with humans is needed.

This invention relates to methods and algorithms that incorporate information from multiple imaging modalities to identify, estimate the size, and track the time course of brain lesions. Subjects develop brain lesions over the natural course of a disease. Currently, lesions are measured and tracked by a trained neuroradiologist using slice-by-slice inspection, a slow process that is prone to human error and hard to generalize to large observational studies.

This technology includes a cell line that stably expresses YFP-Parkin and mt-mKeima that can be used to study mitochondrial degradation, mitophagy, using flow cytometry (FACS). Compromised mitophagy is implicated in Parkinson disease. The effects of any compounds or genetic alteration on Parkin-mediated mitophagy can be monitored.

This technology is an improvement on the ability to visualize cortical lesions in neurological diseases that cause focal tissue damage to the cortex, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Two approaches are used. The first approach includes optimization of routinely available diffusion-weighted sequences to maximize resolution and contrast, both of which are required to differentiate small cortical lesions from normal-appearing cortex.

This technology includes an automated and non-invasive assessment system called Automated Identification of subjects at risks of Multiple Sclerosis (AIMS) to assist clinicians in their diagnostic evaluation. A focus of AIMS is the ‘central vein sign’ (and other radiological findings).

This technology includes the design and implementation for 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) that allows single transmit hardware to be "transformed" for another nucleus excitation to perform multi-nuclear MR. A radiofrequency (RF) optically controlled switch-mode amplifier prototype is tuned for excitation of two nuclei. The amplifier received the nuclei carrier signals optically through a single fiber.

This technology includes Cyclopentane-modified Peptide Nucleic Acids (cp-PNAs) which can be combined with (forced-intercalation) FIT-PNAs to create highly sensitive probes that detect the presence of complementary RNA sequences. We have studied the beneficial effects of incorporating cyclopentane groups into the backbone of PNAs, which leads to proper preorganization of the PNA backbone into the conformations needed to bind complementary RNA sequences. The cp-PNAs typically have improved thermodynamic stability for binding to complementary nucleic acids compared to unmodified PNAs.

This technology includes a versatile intravascular 3D intracardiac echocardiography (ICE) catheter that can operate under conventional X-ray and MRI for use during interventional cardiac procedures. The 3D MRICE and custom, GPU-based, real-time imaging system are also included. Structural heart disease affects more than 2.9% of the US population, and common interventional procedures can be difficult because of limitations in catheter devices and inadequate image guidance.

This technology includes a new technique to improve the fidelity of time-varying signals acquired in the dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) imaging. This technique enhances the time-varying signals in a given DCE image series through deep convolutional neural networks (CNN) to learn the relationship of signal versus contrast concentration from other series of different contrast doses.

This CDC developed auscultatory training apparatus includes a database of prerecorded physiological sounds (e.g., lung, bowel, or heart sounds) stored on a computer for playback. Current teaching tools, which utilize previously recorded sounds, suffer from the disadvantage that playback environments cause considerable distortion and errors in sound reproduction. For example, to those trainees using such systems, the reproduced respiratory sounds do not “sound” as if they are being generated by a live patient.