Descripción del proyecto
THIS RESEARCH PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE NEW TECHNIQUES FOR ADQUISITION, PRE-PROCESSING, ANALYSIS AND QUANTIFICATION OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGES IN ORDER TO DESIGN AND EVALUATE NEUROIMAGING BIOMARKERS TO BE APPLIED IN NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES, SPECIALLY ALZHEIMERS DISEASE (AD), NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND MENTAL ILLNESS . THE FOLLOWING MR TECHNOLOGIES WILL BE CONSIDERED: BRAIN IRON QUANTIFICATION, SMALL LESIONS DETECTION AND QUANTIFICATION, PERFUSION QUANTIFICATION WITH ARTERIAL SPIN LABELLING, ANALYSIS OF DIFFUSION IMAGES, NEURONAL ACTIVITY WITH FMRI BASED ON BOLD AND ASL, AND TO ASSESS RESPONSE TO OLFATIVE STIMULI. THE TECHNICAL OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT IS TO DESIGN AND DEVELOP NEW ANALYSIS AND ACQUISITION TECHNIQUES THAT PROVIDE ROBUST QUANTITATIVE MEASUREMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL PARAMETERS (SUCH AS BRAIN PERFUSION, DIFFUSION, NEURONAL ACTIVITY AND STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL BRAIN CONNECTIVITY) IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY AND SELECT A SET OF BIOMARKERS IN BRAIN DISEASE. FROM A CLINICAL POINT OF VIEW, THIS PROJECT WILL AIM AT EVALUATE A SET OF NEW NEUROIMAGING BIOMARKERS OF NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES, NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND MENTAL ILLNESS. SPECIAL INTEREST WILL BE TO FIND CORRELATIONS BETWEEN THE NEUROIMAGING BIOMARKERS AND CLINICAL VARIABLES TO TO DISCRIMINATE BETWEEN PATHOLOGICAL AND HEALTHY CONTROL GROUPS FOR A FAST TRANSLATIONAL APPLICATION AND A QUICK NEW KNOWLEDGE ACUISITION, SPECIALISED SOFTWARE TOOLS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED. THESE TOOLS WILL PROVIDE A SMART STORAGING OF BIOMARKERS FROM PATHOLOGICAL CASES FACILITATING FURTHER EARLIER DIAGNOSES. FINAL EVALUATION WILL BE PERFORMED IN SEVERAL IMAGE DATABASES IN NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES, NEUROLOGIAL DISORDERS AND MENTAL ILLNESS FROM THE MEDICAL IMAGE ANALYSIS LAB AT FUNDACION CIEN FUNDACION REINA SOFIA AND FROM THE MEDICAL IMAGE ANALYSIS AND BIOMETRY LAB AT UNIVERSIDAD REY JUAN CARLOS (BELONGING TO THE MADRID LAB NETWORK OF MADRI+D).