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Calcium-Based MRI Sensor Enables More Sensitive Brain Imaging (mit.edu)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from MIT News: MIT neuroscientists have developed a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sensor that allows them to monitor neural activity deep within the brain by tracking calcium ions. Because calcium ions are directly linked to neuronal firing -- unlike the changes in blood flow detected by other types of MRI, which provide an indirect signal -- this new type of sensing could allow researchers to link specific brain functions to their pattern of neuron activity, and to determine how distant brain regions communicate with each other during particular tasks. In tests in rats, the researchers showed that their calcium sensor can accurately detect changes in neural activity induced by chemical or electrical stimulation, deep within a part of the brain called the striatum.
The new sensor consists of two types of particles that cluster together in the presence of calcium. One is a naturally occurring calcium-binding protein called synaptotagmin, and the other is a magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle coated in a lipid that can also bind to synaptotagmin, but only when calcium is present. Calcium binding induces these particles to clump together, making them appear darker in an MRI image. High levels of calcium outside the neurons correlate with low neuron activity; when calcium concentrations drop, it means neurons in that area are firing electrical impulses. The current version of the sensor responds within a few seconds of the initial brain stimulation, but the researchers are working on speeding that up. They are also trying to modify the sensor so that it can spread throughout a larger region of the brain and pass through the blood-brain barrier, which would make it possible to deliver the particles without injecting them directly to the test site.
The new sensor consists of two types of particles that cluster together in the presence of calcium. One is a naturally occurring calcium-binding protein called synaptotagmin, and the other is a magnetic iron oxide nanoparticle coated in a lipid that can also bind to synaptotagmin, but only when calcium is present. Calcium binding induces these particles to clump together, making them appear darker in an MRI image. High levels of calcium outside the neurons correlate with low neuron activity; when calcium concentrations drop, it means neurons in that area are firing electrical impulses. The current version of the sensor responds within a few seconds of the initial brain stimulation, but the researchers are working on speeding that up. They are also trying to modify the sensor so that it can spread throughout a larger region of the brain and pass through the blood-brain barrier, which would make it possible to deliver the particles without injecting them directly to the test site.
There's a small gap in the blood-brain barrier. It's designed to allow brain-side neuron receptors to measure glucose levels.
What about detecting iron in haemoglobin. With deoxygenated blood, haemoglobin is actually dia-magnetic and will repel a magnetic field
(around 5:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?...)
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Is this a new sensor, or is it a new MRI contrast agent? The headline says it's a sensor but the description is of an MRI contrast agent. I was thinking it could be both (a new contrast agent and a sensor to detect it) but reading TFA it definitely looks like a agent.
This will make a big difference in how quickly it can be implemented. On one hand a new agent would need medical approval. On the other, once approved all hospitals could use it with their existing machines.