About the Program in Advanced Imaging Research

The Program for Advanced Imaging Research (PAIR) supports investigator needs with a variety of sophisticated imaging, data-sharing, and analytic technology. Advanced imaging tools can quantify meaningful disease-related change, injury, and response to therapy, as well as atypicalities characteristic of the diversity of typical development and departures in disorders. Having access to the most advanced imaging resources with diverse and unique applications allows investigators to quantify their data and confirm their findings with an analytical foundation.

Data Architecture and Informatics Platform

 

Flywheel is a research data platform that streamlines data ingestion and curation, automating processing, and machine learning processes. Originally designed around magnetic resonance imaging data, the platform's capabilities are extensible to magnetoencephalography analysis providing reliable, reproducible, and auditable tools for designing, executing, and sharing analysis methods.

CHOP's platform installation is situated within a computing infrastructure using CHOP's Storage Area Network for data storage and the CHOP high-performance computer for computational power. The platform's "gears"  are established and implemented for morphometrics and volumetrics, and structural and functional connectomics. Other gears are available, and novel systems can be implemented as required under the direction of Luke Bloy, PhD.

• Convenient delivery of images to principal investigators
• Standardized quality assurance and preprocessing
• Standardized analysis tools (i.e., gears)
• Facilitates shared gears and data both locally and across sites
• Conceived as a research picture archiving and communication system
• Conveniently interfaces with the Center for Data-Driven Discovery in Biomedicine (D3b) and Arcus to facilitate data analytics functions.

Magnetoencephalography

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) provides real-time electrophysiological sensitivity to brain neuronal (electrical) activity. Leveraging the physics of magnetism, advanced mathematics allows precise source estimation of the MEG signals. This enables depiction in "brain" space, providing five-dimensional spectrospatiotemporal characterization of brain activity at rest, under stimulation, and during task performance. Available capabilities include:

• Two state-of-the-art 275-channel MEG systems
• A dedicated, unique 123-channel system for infants
• A novel, "wearable" 144-channel OPM MEG system.

Wearable MEG Technology

The departure from SQUID-based detection of microscopic magnetic fields and the advent of optically pumped magnetometry (OPM) is a novel development in magnetoencephalography (MEG). OPM-MEG frees the system from requirements of super-cooling and thus permits a wearable form factor similar to an electroencephalogram). This is anticipated to offer increased sensitivity through scalp placement as well as motion tolerance, opening up new research and clinical directions:

• Ideal for infants, toddlers, and patients with developmental disorders that make compliance challenging
• Novel OPM technology allows movement
• Leverages existing CHOP MEG expertise
• Allows realistic movement.

 

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) represents the clinical state of the art. Our research-dedicated systems are Siemens Prisma models with high-performance features and specifications. PAIR offers the following MRI capabilities:

 

• Two research-dedicated 3T MRI machines, both equipped with 80mT/m connectome-quality gradient coils
• One system is equipped with broadband hardware for additional study of non-proton nuclei, such as 23Na (sodium MRI).