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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/M46488/01
Title: AN ULTRA-SENSITIVE FIELD-CYCLED PEDRI IMAGER FOR STUDYING FREE RADICALS IN VIVO
Principal Investigator: Lurie, Professor DJ
Other Investigators:
Hutchison, Dr J Foster, Dr M
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Biomedical Physics and Bioengineering
Organisation: University of Aberdeen
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 July 1999 Ends: 30 June 2002 Value (£): 335,047
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Instrumentation Eng. & Dev.
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
It is widely believed that endogenous free radicals are associated with the pathogenesis of many diseases, but the evidence for free radical involvement is largely indirect. There is a need for a technique which can detect and image free radicals in living animals. The applicants have developed magnetic resonance methods to image free radicals, particularly proton-electron double-resonance imaging (PEDRI). Field-cycled PEDRI (FC-PEDRI) can increase the sensitivity, by applying the EPR irradiation at low field and detecting the NMR signals at much higher field strength. An FC-PEDRI imager with detection at 59 mT has allowed us to begin to study naturally-generated free radicals such as nitric oxide in biological systems. We propose to build an FC-PEDRI imager with greatly increased sensitivity, based on a field-cycled superconducting magnet with a detection field of up to 1 Tesla, capable of detecting free radicals in vivo down to concentrations of 100-200nM. The increased sensitivity will allow us to apply the technique in a number of clinically-relevant animal models of human diseases which are being explored by our clinical collaborations, all of whom are acknowledged experts in their fields. These include the study of free radicals in experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis, nephrotoxic nephritis and sepsis.
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Organisation Website: http://www.abdn.ac.uk