Project acronym X-RAY-BIOIMAGING
Project X-ray phase-contrast imaging for biomedical applications
Researcher (PI) Franz Pfeiffer
Host Institution (HI) TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET MUENCHEN
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), PE3, ERC-2009-StG
Summary In conventional x-ray imaging, contrast is obtained through the differences in the absorption cross-section of the constituents of the object. The technique yields excellent results where highly absorbing structures such as bones are embedded in a matrix of relatively weakly absorbing material, for example the surrounding tissue of the human body. However, in cases where different forms of tissue with similar absorption cross-sections are under investigation (for example, in mammography or neurology), the x-ray absorption contrast is relatively poor. Consequently, differentiating pathologic from non-pathologic tissue in an absorption radiograph obtained with a current hospital-based x-ray system remains practically impossible for certain tissue compositions. The goal of this research project is to overcome these limitations by developing and applying the potential of x-ray phase-contrast imaging for pre-clinical, biomedical x-ray imaging applications. The anticipated results of this project shall provide the scientific basis for future routine exploitation of biomedical x-ray phase contrast imaging through academic research and biomedical imaging device manufacturers. While I envision that the method will ultimately be applicable and beneficiary for several x-ray medical diagnostics applications (i.e., including computer tomography on humans), this project will focus on the first successful implementation of x-ray phase-contrast bioimaging for pre-clinical, small-animal applications.
Summary
In conventional x-ray imaging, contrast is obtained through the differences in the absorption cross-section of the constituents of the object. The technique yields excellent results where highly absorbing structures such as bones are embedded in a matrix of relatively weakly absorbing material, for example the surrounding tissue of the human body. However, in cases where different forms of tissue with similar absorption cross-sections are under investigation (for example, in mammography or neurology), the x-ray absorption contrast is relatively poor. Consequently, differentiating pathologic from non-pathologic tissue in an absorption radiograph obtained with a current hospital-based x-ray system remains practically impossible for certain tissue compositions. The goal of this research project is to overcome these limitations by developing and applying the potential of x-ray phase-contrast imaging for pre-clinical, biomedical x-ray imaging applications. The anticipated results of this project shall provide the scientific basis for future routine exploitation of biomedical x-ray phase contrast imaging through academic research and biomedical imaging device manufacturers. While I envision that the method will ultimately be applicable and beneficiary for several x-ray medical diagnostics applications (i.e., including computer tomography on humans), this project will focus on the first successful implementation of x-ray phase-contrast bioimaging for pre-clinical, small-animal applications.
Max ERC Funding
1 994 000 €
Duration
Start date: 2010-01-01, End date: 2014-12-31
Project acronym ZEBRAFISH PERCEPTION
Project Sensory perception: neural representation and modulation
Researcher (PI) German Sumbre
Host Institution (HI) INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE
Call Details Starting Grant (StG), LS5, ERC-2009-StG
Summary Perception has intrigued philosophers and scientists since Aristotle ~2,300 years ago, but only recently it became technically possible to address its underlying neural mechanisms. The main scientific research approach still focuses on studying the evoked responses to a perceived sensory stimulus. However, in a state of sensory deprivation, sensory areas in the brain remain highly active. This activity, once interpreted as irrelevant noise, has been found to exhibit highly coherent spatiotemporal structures, suggesting a possible role in perception. Here, I propose to test the hypothesis that perception results as a consequence of the interaction between the dynamic internal state of the brain and the activity evoked by sensory experience. For this purpose, I shall use the zebrafish larva as the experimental model, and a multidisciplinary approach involving two-photon imaging of neural network activities with single cell resolution, behavioural assays, novel mathematical methods for data analysis and genetic engineering techniques to label and manipulate activity of specific cell types or entire networks. The zebrafish model offers the advantage of combining simultaneously all these techniques in an intact behaving vertebrate. I shall specifically examine: 1) The Neuronal representation of sensory perception 2) The role of ongoing spontaneous activity in sensory perception 3) The effect of sensory experience on perception The proposed multidisciplinary approach will shed new light on how information flows through the nervous system; how sensory stimuli are detected, processed and converted into motor behaviours. The findings of this project should provide clear hypotheses regarding analogous and poorly-understood processes in mammals. The work could therefore contribute to understanding of neurological disorders, such as tinnitus, phantom limb and other hallucinations, in which sensory experience is perceived in the absence of external stimulation.
Summary
Perception has intrigued philosophers and scientists since Aristotle ~2,300 years ago, but only recently it became technically possible to address its underlying neural mechanisms. The main scientific research approach still focuses on studying the evoked responses to a perceived sensory stimulus. However, in a state of sensory deprivation, sensory areas in the brain remain highly active. This activity, once interpreted as irrelevant noise, has been found to exhibit highly coherent spatiotemporal structures, suggesting a possible role in perception. Here, I propose to test the hypothesis that perception results as a consequence of the interaction between the dynamic internal state of the brain and the activity evoked by sensory experience. For this purpose, I shall use the zebrafish larva as the experimental model, and a multidisciplinary approach involving two-photon imaging of neural network activities with single cell resolution, behavioural assays, novel mathematical methods for data analysis and genetic engineering techniques to label and manipulate activity of specific cell types or entire networks. The zebrafish model offers the advantage of combining simultaneously all these techniques in an intact behaving vertebrate. I shall specifically examine: 1) The Neuronal representation of sensory perception 2) The role of ongoing spontaneous activity in sensory perception 3) The effect of sensory experience on perception The proposed multidisciplinary approach will shed new light on how information flows through the nervous system; how sensory stimuli are detected, processed and converted into motor behaviours. The findings of this project should provide clear hypotheses regarding analogous and poorly-understood processes in mammals. The work could therefore contribute to understanding of neurological disorders, such as tinnitus, phantom limb and other hallucinations, in which sensory experience is perceived in the absence of external stimulation.
Max ERC Funding
1 851 600 €
Duration
Start date: 2009-11-01, End date: 2015-09-30
