Abstract:
Focused ultrasound is a noninvasive therapeutic modality in which ultrasound waves are focused to a point in the body to manipulate a target without affecting intervening tissue. Some of the most promising applications for focused ultrasound are in the brain, where it is FDA-approved for thermal ablation in movement disorders, and is also being explored for blood brain barrier opening and neuromodulation. MRI plays a critical role in targeting and monitoring the effects of transcranial focused ultrasound through its ability to image not only fine brain structures but also temperature and tissue displacement. In this talk I will present our efforts to overcome the myriad technical challenges associated with MRI guidance of transcranial focused ultrasound, including achieving volumetric coverage in brain thermometry, alleviating signal voids and artifacts caused by the presence of the transducer and its coupling media, and rapidly imaging tissue displacement to localize the focus and compensate acoustic aberrations caused by the skull. 

Bio:
Will Grissom is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. He received his PhD from the University of Michigan in 2008, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University in 2009, and worked as a Research Engineer at GE Global Research in Munich Germany until 2011. He then joined the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Institute of Imaging Science at Vanderbilt University where he works on RF pulse design, image reconstruction, and RF coils for MRI from 47 mT to 7 T, and develops interventional MRI methods for guiding focused ultrasound and laser ablation and neuromodulation.

Organized by:
Dr. Brendon Baker,
Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Dr. David Nordsletten,
Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Cardiac Surgery

Zoom Link: https://umich.zoom.us/j/96508834308
Location: 1131 LBME, 1101 Beal Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2110