7T MRI

The Spinoza Centre houses a whole-body 7T MRI scanner. 7T is rapidly establishing itself as a tool for studying the brain in unprecedented detail. The high signal-to-noise ratio available at 7T benefits a wide range of MR data acquisition protocols and can be employed to, among other things:

• measure activity in the brain at the level of cortical columns or layers
• visualize brain (sub)structures too small to see at lower field strengths
• reliably quantify low-concentration neurometabolites
• realize significant reductions in scanning times

The 7T is equipped with stimulus presentation hardware (visual, auditory and other) and behavioural recording similar to the 3T. The scanner also has an eight-channel multi-transmit system for obtaining homogenous signal across the entire brain, including the cerebellum. 

MP2RAGEME image from the multi-transmit system