SBIR/STTR Award attributes
Abstract Functional magnetic resonance imagingfMRIhas rapidly become the dominant tool in human neuroscience researchand is poised to become a transformative technology in the areas of psychiatric and neurological diagnosticsIn recent yearslarge scale$M $B USDand long termyearinternational investmentse gNIDA Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development StudyNIH Human Connectome ProjectWhite House BRAIN InitiativeUK BiobankEU Human Brain Projecthave expanded the reach of human fMRI to include faster pulse sequences and more complex analytic toolshigherTfield strengthintegration with multi scale experiments and modelingand an emphasis on integration of data across multiple scanner study sitesThis generation of fMRI studies goes beyond the original simplistic models that focused uponactivation mapsto investigate connectionsnetworksand dynamic nonlinear circuits in the brainNew ways of thinking are being applied to some of our highest impact areas of societal interestranging from addictiondepressionautismand brain injuryto age based cognitive degenerationHoweverwhile fMRI research dramatically acceleratesquality assurance protocols for the MRI machines needed to generate these findings have lagged far behindThustodayandapos s neuroimaging centers typically use outdated static phantom protocols that are now incapable of targeting quality control issues relevant to current and emerging applicationsThe Stony Brook Dynamic Phantom is designed to address this urgent needBuilding upon ast generation working prototype of the phantompatent pendingas well as engineering improvements in thend generation prototype designed to increase its durability and reliabilityhere we focus on the next logical steps to commercializationPhase I focuses on quality control and establishing added value to the marketby showing that our phantomandapos s measure of dynamic fidelity provides a uniquely informative measure of data quality with direct and concrete implications for the interpretation of human dataIncorporating feedback provided by our Senior Advisory BoardPhase II then proceeds towards commercialization in three stepsFirstALA Scientific Instruments will adapt the engineering for mass productionSecondthe academic teams at Stony Brook University and Massachusetts General Hospital Harvard Medical School will develop algorithms that use characterization of scanner noise to clean data of associated artifactfor both single subjectclinicalapplications as well as normalization across scanners for multi site researchFinallyhardware and software will be then integrated into one productwhich will be field tested byinternational leaders in the neuroimaging fieldFeedback from this groupidentifying potential friction points in terms of the initial learning curve and or day to day usage of the phantomwill be implemented in the final designto ensure that our final manufacturing for the hardwaresoftwareand documentation make the phantom as pleasant to operate and practically useful as possibleAt this pointour device will be ready for commercial distribution Functional magnetic resonance imagingfMRIhas rapidly become the dominant tool in human neuroscience researchand is poised to become a transformative technology in promoting our understanding of addiction and neuropsychopharmacologyHoweverwhile fMRI research dramatically acceleratesquality assurance protocols for the MRI machines needed to generate these findings have lagged far behindThe Stony Brook Dynamic Phantom is designed to optimize detection sensitivity of newer task freeresting statebrain networksby providing the first commercial fMRI calibration devicephantomcapable of producing a dynamicbrain likesignalQuantitative characterizationand subsequent correctionof scanner specific signal distortion not only will markedly improve the detection of clinically relevant biomarkers at the level of the single patientbut also will permit normalization across scanner platforms for large scale research studies collected across multiple sites
