Biomedical imaging research suite
There have been major advances in imaging technology over the last decade. Critical now is the translation of those lab-made results into clinical studies and ultimately to patients—the main focus of this imaging suite.
Equipment in this suite is state-of-the-art. It is enabling our scientists to develop new ways to see inside the body, to deliver therapy into the brain and body, and to monitor that therapy after it has been delivered, to evaluate how well it is working.
This facility is a core resource for scientists working on a variety of clinical challenges. One team is testing high-intensity focused ultrasound, a technology pioneered by SRI scientist Dr. Kullervo Hynynen, whereby focused ultrasound is delivered into the brain under MRI guidance to ablate lesions in the brain. Some of the applications have moved into clinical trials, including for Parkinson’s disease and obsessive-compulsive disorder, while researchers are working to optimize the technology for other conditions, like stroke. In 2016, Health Canada approved focused ultrasound brain surgery to treat essential tremor on the back of pivotal research from SRI and international sites.
Hynynen is also developing methods that use low-intensity focused ultrasound to disrupt the blood-brain barrier temporarily and safely. The disruption allows drugs and other therapeutic agents, like antibodies and gene therapy, to be delivered into the brain to a target area while sparing healthy tissue. This research will revolutionize the treatment of some of the most intractable diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and brain cancer. In 2015, a Sunnybrook team was the first in the world to use focused ultrasound to open the blood-brain barrier to deliver chemotherapy into the brain of a woman with brain cancer. In 2017, Sunnybrook launched the world’s first trial to study the use of low-intensity focused ultrasound to treat people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Other researchers are using a 7T Bruker MRI scanner for preclinical and molecular MRI research. Projects include characterization of arterial and peripheral plaques to plan intravascular interventions; use of spectroscopy to assess neurometabolite concentrations; functional brain imaging in stroke and Alzheimer’s disease models; using MRI to detect early tumour changes that may indicate responsiveness to chemotherapy; MRI-guided focused ultrasound; and brain and spinal cord myelin imaging.
