On the morning of January 21, Zhejiang University-Siemens Joint Research Center for Brain Imaging was set up on Zijingang Campus. Previously, the Center had installed Siemens Healthcare’s MAGNETOM Prisma, a 3T Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner, and put it into operation. Moreover, the Center will be the first Chinese facility to fix a powerful Siemens MAGNETOM 7 Tesla (7T) scanner—the most sophisticated whole-body MRI scanner globally.
Wu Zhaohui, Executive Vice President of Zhejiang University, and Dr. Bernd Ohnesorge, CEO of Siemens Magnetic Resonance, unveiled the plaque for the Center together. “With the Center as a platform, Zhejiang University aims to integrate the precious assets of such institutions as the School of Medicine, the College of Medical Engineering & Instrument Science and Qiushi Academy of Advanced Studies and set up a world-class interdisciplinary research & technological base, thereby providing massive support for the effective conversion of research findings in brain science into reliable approaches in clinical treatment,” said Wu Zhaohui.
“The human brain is a black box where 100 billion cells are working. Research into the brain, which is currently capturing immense attention, calls for cutting-edge magnetic resonance technology and imaging methods, thus making tremendous demands on the magnetic resonance hardware, particularly the gradient system,” said Academician Tang Xiaowei of the Department of Physics, Zhejiang University. As of 2000, he has been committed to the promotion of the Human Brain Project and neuroinformatics in China. While visiting the 3T Magnetic Resonance Imaging System Lab, he marveled at generous hardware support that Zhejiang University rendered for research into the brain science by channeling a handsome sum of money into introducing advanced magnetic resonance imaging technology.
Zhong Jianhui, Director of the Center for Brain Imaging Science & Technology, said that Prisma is capable of exceptionally high spatial and temporal resolution to achieve image quality, which is integral to studies into sub-millimeter brain cells. The Center will be dedicated to the establishment of an interdisciplinary, collaborative and innovative public research platform with neuroscience, cognitive science, cerebral complaints and magnetic resonance imaging technology as its major research fields.