There is clear evidence that mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress are precipitating and exacerbating factors in neurodegenerative diseases. The development and commercialization of radio frequency electronics for use in animal models of neurodegeneration to assess oxidative stress is critical to the development of new therapeutics. This technology will be used to identify surrogate markers of disease progression that translate from animals to humans for use in the assessment of therapeutic efficacy in early clinical trials helping to improve time-to-market and save hundreds of millions of dollars in R &D costs. Ekam Imaging Inc. (Ekam) has focused this grant application on developing a 1H/31P radio frequency coil system for use in magnetic resonance spectroscopy to evaluate oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in animal models of neurodegeneration. In this Phase I application, Ekam will use a rodent model of Parkinson's disease (PD) to test and optimize coil design. The specific aims are to design and manufacture a prototype rat 1H/31P dual coil system and field test the 1H/31P dual coil system. If successful, a Phase II application will be submitted which will establish this MR spectroscopy technology and its application in a monkey model of PD. Engineers at Ekam will simulate the size, load and electrical properties of a biological object (in this case, an adult rat head) and model the electromagnetic behavior of a coil designed for this specific application. This data will be integrated with RF simulations to predict circuit components for board layouts that will be engineered to fit the product design. Two separate coils, one for 1H and another for 31P will be developed and made interchangeable. Thus, a rat will be imaged first with the 1H coil for high resolution anatomy and 1H spectroscopy (lactate and glutathione specifically) followed by 31P spectroscopy for (phosphate metabolism and pH). Coil simulations will be run with mechanical designs optimized for space filling to accommodate an adult rat head.
Thesaurus Terms: 21+ Years Old;Adult;Age;Anatomic;Anatomical Sciences;Anatomy;Animal Model;Animal Models And Related Studies;Animals;Applications Grants;Behavior;Biological;Brain;Causality;Clinic;Clinical Trials;Clinical Trials, Unspecified;Common Rat Strains;Data;Degenerative Diseases, Nervous System;Degenerative Neurologic Disorders;Development;Development And Research;Disease Progression;Dysfunction;Electromagnetic;Electromagnetics;Electronics;Encephalon;Encephalons;Engineering;Engineerings;Etiology;Frequencies (Time Pattern);Frequency;Functional Disorder;Glutathione;Glycine, N-(N-L-Gamma-Glutamyl-L-Cysteinyl)-;Grant Proposals;Grants, Applications;Head;Health Insurance For Aged And Disabled, Title 18;Health Insurance For Aged, Title 18;Health Insurance For Disabled Title 18;Human;Human, Adult;Human, General;Idiopathic Parkinson Disease;Image;Intermediary Metabolism;Lewy Body Parkinson Disease;Metbl;Mr Imaging;Mr Spectroscopy;Mr Tomography;Mri;Mrs;Mrsi;Magnetic Resonance Imaging;Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan;Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy;Mammals, Rats;Mammals, Rodents;Man (Taxonomy);Man, Modern;Marketing;Measurable;Measures;Mechanics;Medical Imaging, Magnetic Resonance / Nuclear Magnetic Resonance;Medicare;Metabolic Processes;Metabolism;Modeling;Monkeys;Nmr Imaging;Nmr Tomography;Nerve Degeneration;Nervous System Diseases;Nervous System, Brain;Neurodegenerative Diseases;Neurodegenerative Disorders;Neurologic Degenerative Conditions;Neurologic Diseases, Degenerative;Neurologic Disorders;Neurological Disorders;Neuron Degeneration;Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging;Oxidative Stress;Paralysis Agitans;Parkinson;Parkinson Disease;Parkinson's;Parkinson's Disease;Parkinsons Disease;Pathogenesis;Phase;Phosphates;Physiopathology;Population;Prevalence;Primary Parkinsonism;Process;R & D;R&D;Radio;Rat;Rattus;Resolution;Rodent;Rodent Model;Rodentia;Rodentias;Running;Sbir;Sbirs (R43/44);Science Of Anatomy;Services;Simulate;Small Business Innovation Research;Small Business Innovation Research Grant;Spectroscopy;Spectrum Analyses;Spectrum Analysis;Surrogate Markers;System;System, Loinc Axis 4;Technology;Testing;Therapeutic;Time;Title 18;Translating;Translatings;Treatment Efficacy;Zeugmatography;Adult Human (21+);Anatomy;Animal Model Development;Biomarker;Clinical Investigation;Commercialization;Cost;Design;Designing;Disease Causation;Disease Etiology;Disease/Disorder Etiology;Disorder Etiology;Drug Discovery;Electrical Property;Gamma-L-Glu-L-Cys-Gly;Gamma-L-Glutamyl-L-Cysteinylglycine;Health Insurance For Disabled;Imaging;Improved;Inorganic Phosphate;Language Translation;Mitochondrial Dysfunction;Model Organism;Nervous System Disorder;Neural Degeneration;Neurodegeneration;Neurodegenerative Illness;Neurological Disease;Neuronal Degeneration;New Therapeutics;Next Generation Therapeutics;Novel Therapeutics;Pathophysiology;Prototype;Public Health Relevance;Radiofrequency;Research And Development;Response;Simulation;Therapeutic Efficacy;Therapeutically Effective
