Grant: Project Grant

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is increasingly used to treat the symptoms of many brain conditions. Neurosurgery is performed to implant metal electrodes into targets deep within the brain; then, a small device is also implanted underneath the skin, in the upper chest, to send electrical signals to the brain to achieve the DBS treatment effect. DBS patients need short-term and long-term follow-up to make sure that the electrodes are implanted correctly, to check for side effects, and to make sure that the electrodes continue to work well. Also, DBS patients develop other health problems throughout life. For their ongoing healthcare management, it is highly desirable for DBS patients to be able to have magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exams. MRI is the main medical imaging method for examining diseases of the brain and spinal cord, and of other soft tissues in the body. MRI is also a very flexible, non-invasive way to measure both brain anatomy and function, and so it is highly desirable to use MRI as a tool in research studies of DBS patients. Such research will help to unravel how DBS actually works, towards improving DBS devices for even better treatments. Presently, however, extremely few DBS patients are receiving MRI exams after their devices are implanted, and MRI research studies of DBS patients are at a very early stage. This is because of a major safety concern: brain tissue near the DBS implant can be permanently damaged from heating during MRI. This grant proposal investigates a promising MRI method called "parallel radiofrequency transmission (PTX)" for its ability to suppress these heating effects. The optimal PTX conditions that minimize heating will be determined, and practical methods will be developed so that safe and comprehensive PTX MRI becomes viable for DBS patients. Ultimately this work will lay the groundwork for improved healthcare for DBS patients, and for safe research MRI studies to improve understanding of DBS mechanisms.