Neuroimaging Center at Kessler Foundation Expands Possibilities
"Neuroimaging is one of the only objective ways to assess how an investigational treatment affects the brain or spinal cord which, in turn, leads to improved outcomes for people with disabilities,” said John DeLuca, PhD, senior vice president for Research and Training and director of the Neuroimaging Center at Kessler Foundation. “Objective data prove the efficacy of a tested treatment and support efforts to attain third-party reimbursement. Through our work in the Neuroimaging Center, life-changing treatments will be more widely available to people with disabilities.”
The opening of the Neuroimaging Center at Kessler Foundation in September gave the Foundation the distinction of being the only freestanding institution in the nation with a rehabilitation research-dedicated neuroimaging center. The $6 million Center houses a powerful state-of-the-art 3T Siemens Skyra Scanner, with capabilities for structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI), and MR spectroscopy. Through neuroimaging, researchers capture images of the brain and spinal cord at rest and when performing specific thinking and memory tasks. They observe any structural and activation changes that take place as a result of a treatment intervention.
“Having an on-site research-dedicated scanner allows us to easily investigate new ideas, giving our research greater breadth,” said Dr. Wylie. “With the addition of a physicist, our research also has greater depth, as we now have the ability to develop protocols and sequences that are particularly useful in the rehabilitation research setting, including analyzing pre- and post-treatment scans.”
In just the final months of 2013, more than 160 scans were performed as part of ten clinical studies. Foundation scientists are conducting novel studies, incorporating these imaging techniques into research on the brain and spinal cord. Glenn Wylie, DPhil, associate director of the Neuroimaging Center, and Bing Yao, PhD, the Center’s physicist and manager, use best practices to study the effects of rehabilitation interventions on the brain, as well as new applications of neuroimaging in rehabilitation research. The goals for current studies encompass improving cognitive function in multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury; assessing mobility and nerve regeneration in people with spinal cord injury; and testing new treatments for aphasia in stroke survivors (click here for more information).
