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Head of the Magnetic Resonance Center

Prof. Dr. Klaus Scheffler
klaus.scheffler[at]tuebingen.mpg.de

 

Secretary: Tina Schröder
Phone: +49 7071 601-701
Fax: +49 7071 601-702
tina.schroeder[at]tuebingen.mpg.de

 

see our SpinZOO here


 

Sequences and Signals

Our primary goal is to develop new magnetic resonance techniques that are able to specifically probe the structural and biochemical composition of living tissue. This is closely linked with our interest to understand the details of magnetic resonance signal formation within a living environment, as nuclear magnetization is continuously influenced by different processes during its live time between excitation and relaxation. This is a simple, eventually computationally demanding task, since we just have to forward the tiny fluctuating magnetic fields, which are sensed by the water during its random or oriented walk through tissue, to the Bloch or similar equations. A prominent example is the detection of neuronal activation with magnetic resonance, often called functional MRI or fMRI: increased neuronal activation increases the observed magnetic resonance signal, and sometimes vice versa. This BOLD effect is the working horse of numerous applications in cognitive neurosciences, however, a detailed understanding of this effect on a microscopic or mesoscopic scale is missing.
 
 
After just having started in Tübingen, our project group so far has focused on the following projects:
  • Clinical applications of 9.4T: We are in the process to implement Sodium imaging for brain and cartilage imaging, the latter in close collaboration with the Medical University Vienna. As relaxation times are very short for sodium, dedicated sequences with very short echo times has to be designed, eventually even with negative echo times. These sequences are based on spiral-like readouts or optimized Cartesian approaches. Another just started clinical projects is implementation and optimization of single-voxel and CSI spectroscopy at 9.4T based on conventional and steady-state approaches to measure brain tumor metabolism.
  • SSFP BOLD sequences: A major part of our research will thus be directed towards developments in high-spatial resolution and (in a first step not simultaneously) high-temporal functional imaging using confined imaging volumes, sparse sampling and compresses sensing, highly parallel sampling and novel imaging sequences such as steady state free precession (SSFP). Especially at 9.4T we expect very interesting effects that influence the SSFP signal upon neuronal activation.
Last updated: Friday, 25.05.2012