Oslo Animal MRI unit - a node in the FUGE NorMIC consortium

The MR technology now allows for in vivo imaging to a resolution of microns which is even less than the size of many cell types. MRI has therefore become an invaluable tool for molecular imaging and translational research. Scientists in Oslo have used the FUGE MIC animal MR unit in Trondheim until now. However, the capacity in Trondheim is exhausted and it is very impractical and for several projects impossible to make use of the facilities in Trondheim. It is therefore, imperative that the research group s in Oslo get access to a small animal MR unit in their vicinity as soon as possible. By a joint grant from The Research Council, the University of Oslo and the Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (pending) a high magnetic field, small animal MR scan ner is now in the process of being acquired by research groups at Ullevål University Hospital. This Channel 2 application to FUGE/2 is for establishing and cover running costs of an Oslo node of the NorMIC with the MR group in Trondheim as the lead partne r. An expansion of the MRI platform is in accordance with the evaluation report of FUGE/1 and in line with the FUGE/2 strategy and call. The Oslo node will be hosted by Ullevål University Hospital with the University of Oslo as an active partner. The grou ps at the hospital responsible for the application will use the magnet for heart failure research (Sejersted) and research on severe mental illness (Andreassen). Several other groups at Institute for Basic Medical Sciences and the Rikshospitalet-Radiumhos pitalet Medical Center have also planned for small animal MRI in their projects.