Siemens MAGNETOM Prisma/Prisma fit upgrade - Abstract
We propose to acquire a ‘next-generation’ Magnetom Prisma 3 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging System in
support of engineering, neuroscience, and clinical research in New Mexico. The new scanner will be housed at
the Mind Research Network (MRN), an independent, 501c3 not-for-profit research organization. MRN is a
member of the Lovelace Family of companies, and it is located on the University of New Mexico campus in
Albuquerque. The Prisma affords a 64 channel head and neck coil and the strongest gradients available for a
3T machine. The equipment has the potential to directly support the engineering and neuroscience research
activities of 30+ scientists across multiple institutions, including the Mind Research Network, The University of
New Mexico (Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Psychology, Neuroscience, Education,
Psychiatry, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Pediatrics and Radiology), New Mexico State University, the Lovelace
Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute, Lovelace Scientific Resources Inc., the Lovelace
Respiratory Research Institute, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Sandia National Laboratory. The new
system configuration will be achieved through a near complete up-grade (everything but the core magnet) of
MRN’s outdated (2006) 3T Magnetom Trio system. Direct access to a Prisma scanner will allow MRN and the
State of New Mexico to continue to be driving forces in the elucidation of brain-behavioral relationships in
health and disease. We anticipate that the proposed upgrade will support NIH, NSF, DOD, FDA, DARPA and
IARPA funded research in a wide range of scientific endeavors including (1) the development of new
engineering-based tools for processing and fusion of multimodal neuroscientific data, (2) assessment of brain
structure and function across the lifespan, in health and disease. The proposed machine will be the only
research available human 3T MRI system in the state of New Mexico, and it will align our scanning capabilities
with those available at other major brain imaging research centers in the United States. Also, the new scanner
will allow our data acquisition procedures to parallel those being used in the Human Connectome Project. Such
alignment is critical for our ability to appropriately train students and post-doctoral fellows on state-of-the-art
imaging methods, and to continue our development of shared data analytic tools.
