My research is focused on relaxations during radiofrequency irradiation and development of non-invasive contrast methods for Magnetic Resonance (MR) imaging and spectroscopy at high magnetic fields (3T and higher). This research effort has resulted in numerous contributions that have fundamentally impacted brain and body research. Rotating frame relaxation methods based on adiabatic pulses were first developed in our laboratory at CMRR in Minnesota. We followed this development with a large body of work (utilizing theoretical modeling and experiments) investigating different relaxation pathways in vivo at different magnetic field strengths. The novel MR contrasts and protocols developed in my group were proven to provide an excellent tool for investigation of neurodegenerative processes in Parkinson's disease as well as cancer and stroke. It has been 3 years that we applied our rotating frame relaxation methods T1 and T2 to investigate iron accumulation and neuronal loss, respectively, in substantia nigra (SN) of Parkinson's disease patients. Recently we developed rotating frame method that comprises two relaxation pathways, T1 and T2. This method provides greater sensitivity to molecular motion and is entitled Relaxation Along a Fictitious Field (RAFF). Utilization of fictitious fields in MRI is an important aspect of research in my group.
