Award Details:
Award Type: Accelerator
Award #: A-011
Proposal Title: A Noninvasive MR Spectroscopic Method to Image the Human Epileptic Brain
PI(s): Jeffrey Loeb (UIC)
Award Amount: $100,000.00
Application Cycle: Round 3 (Spring 2019)
Award Start Date: September 1, 2019
Award End Date: August 31, 2020
Abstract:
This proposal will provide proof-of-concept for a noninvasive technology to “visualize” human brain epileptic activity using MR spectroscopic imaging (MRSI). Surgical resection of brain regions that produce seizures can cure epilepsy and requires precise localization of epileptic brain regions. This proposal centers on a UIC patent describing a highly-predictive epileptic, metabolomic pattern derived from surgically resected human brain tissues. This is combined with recently-issued U.S. patents that technically advance a novel five-dimensional (5D) MRSI technique needed to resolve these metabolites using a conventional clinical MRI machine. Studies will utilize retrospective datasets from epilepsy patients who had conventional MRSI studies followed by intracranial electrical recordings (“gold standard”) followed by prospective studies in controls and epileptic patients to optimize 5D MRSI. If successful, this could revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy and other neuropsychiatric disorders.