NWO grant for construction of world's strongest MRI scanner

The 'Dutch National 14Tesla MRI Initiative in Medical Science' (DYNAMIC) project receives a 19 million euro grant from the NWO. The DYNAMIC project will realize the world's first MRI system with a field strength of 14 tesla. The project will develop an (inter)nationally defining research infrastructure that will strongly strengthen the Netherlands' leading position in ultra high field imaging techniques and help increase their application in medicine and neuroscience.

The project consortium consists of seven partners with Radboud University being the lead applicant. Through LUMC, Medical Delta professor prof. dr. Andrew Webb (Medical Delta Diagnostics 3.0: Dementia and stroke consortium member) is a co-applicant. Prof. dr. Thijs van Osch (Scientific Leader Medical Delta Cancer Diagnostics 3.0: Big Data Science of in & ex vivo Imaging and consortium member Medical Delta Diagnostics 3.0: Dementia and stroke) is also involved in the project. 

Every two years the NWO awards grants to build or license essential research infrastructure in the Netherlands. This year, a total of 140 million euros has been allocated to various scientific projects, including DYNAMIC.

More detailed image of the human body

The 14 tesla MRI makes it possible to image the brain at a very high resolution and will therefore help us understand exactly how the brain functions. This is also necessary because for many brain disorders it is still unclear how they arise. With the help of the MRI scanner, it is expected to find new ways for treatment or prevention.

The new scanner is also important for research into the metabolism of diseases and how it can be influenced with medication. The higher resolution of the device can be used, for example, to study new treatments for heterogeneous tissues such as tumors.

More information can be found on the sites of NWO and Radboud UMC and on NOS.nl (NL).