On the basement floor of the School of Biomedical Engineering, ShanghaiTech University, a highly customized 3.0T magnetic resonance system for cutting-edge basic research in brain science, is collecting brain images of volunteers.
This is part of the National Science and Technology Innovation 2030 - "Brain Science and Brain-like Research" major project. The industry-university-research-medical four-party joint efforts to tackle tough problems, the first use of domestic high-end magnetic resonance to empower the Chinese brain plan, will draw China's first infant dynamic brain map and development trajectory, provide basic support for pediatric clinical, brain-like and artificial intelligence and other scientific and technological frontiers, and promote the breakthrough and development of domestic scientific research equipment industry.
For the first time, "drawing a map" of the brains of Chinese infants and young children
The study of the human brain is known as the "ultimate frontier" of natural science.
"According to the World Health Organization's Global Burden of Disease Study, globally, on average, 1 in 49.5 infants and young children under the age of 5 suffers from brain-related diseases such as autism, hyperactivity, developmental disabilities, etc.; In China, the screening abnormality rate of preterm infants is as high as 18%. However, scientists have no idea what causes these diseases are and how to detect them early and treat them early. Zhang Han, director of the Infant Brain Development Imaging Laboratory of the School of Biomedical Engineering of ShanghaiTech University, said.
As part of the above-mentioned big science plan, the "Infant Brain Development Cohort" project was officially launched at ShanghaiTech University recently, which will focus on the major changes in brain structure, function and connection in the early stage of infant and young children's development, build China's first 0-6-year-old normally developing infant and young child aggregation cross-cohort, map China's first infant dynamic brain map and development trajectory, and carry out cutting-edge technology and development mechanism research.
Unlike the mature brain of adults, the brain development rate of newborns in the first year of birth is extremely fast, and the brain volume and morphological characteristics change rapidly, which puts forward higher requirements for data acquisition, imaging technology and data analysis technology. Even though a lot of research has been accumulated before, the applicability of adult brain-based technology to infant brain images is very limited.
Accurate measurement and analysis of early infant and young children's brain development maps and development trajectories can provide a key basis for early identification and diagnosis and even treatment of infant-related diseases.
"Doctors can identify children with autism around the age of 2 through behavioral tests, but at this time the 'golden treatment period' has been missed by therapeutic interventions. We hope that through basic research on brain development, we can identify and treat these 'unsolved diseases' earlier and benefit more families." Zhang Han said.
Two-way "empowerment" of domestic large equipment and national frontier scientific research
Nearly 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion connections... To study the human brain, data acquisition of high-definition images is the basic condition, and it is not easy to study the brain development of infants and young children. Infants and young children are susceptible to magnetic resonance noise and prolonged scans, and high-quality data is often collected only while asleep.
"We have introduced a domestic scientific research equipment - 3.0T magnetic resonance uMR 890 for all-round scanning, equipped with a uAIFI 'brain-like' platform based on artificial intelligence technology, not only high-definition images, but also save about 44% of scanning time, brain structure imaging noise reduction of about 28% to 34%, greatly improving the infant brain image data acquisition efficiency and imaging quality." Zhang Han said.
The reporter saw on this customized domestic scientific research equipment that in order to adapt to the physiological and psychological characteristics of children, multiple software and hardware of the system have been individually adjusted. The team of R&D engineers from Lianying Medical stays with scientists almost every day, responds to scientific research needs at the first time, and adjusts and upgrades equipment at any time.
"The coil used for adult scanning magnetic resonance is too large for infants and young children, so we developed a joint coil of head, neck and spine of infants and young children for the first time, reducing the inner diameter of the coil from 26 centimeters to 18 centimeters suitable for infants and young children, and the coil is closer to the composite image area and the scanned image is clearer." In order to make it easier for researchers to collect data, we have made the coil axial coverage greater, so that the scan can be completed in one go without moving the baby or changing the scan coil during the scanning process. Zhang Qiang, chairman of Lianying Medical, said.
The "seamless" connection between industrial equipment instruments and basic science is a two-way "empowerment". According to reports, this cutting-edge research project not only focuses on the original innovation of "0 to 1", but also will continue to work with high-end medical equipment industry companies to jointly develop intelligent and high-performance imaging equipment and platforms suitable for brain development research to solve key core technology problems.
"The development of technology and the progress of cutting-edge scientific research are complementary, in the country's major frontier scientific research projects, we must not only study and solve various scientific problems, but also to promote the development and breakthrough of the core technology of domestic equipment, two-way 'empowerment'." Shen Dinggang, a professor at ShanghaiTech University and founding dean of the School of Biomedical Engineering, said.
Explore the four parties of industry, academia and medicine to work together to tackle tough problems
For a long time, the manufacture of components and complete machines of high-field magnetic resonance medical imaging equipment has been monopolized by foreign companies; Domestic high-end equipment supports research in cutting-edge scientific fields, which is even more difficult. The 3.0T magnetic resonance scientific research equipment used this time won the first prize of the 2020 National Science and Technology Progress Award for its comprehensive mastery of the core component technology in this field.
"From the first kilometer of basic innovation to the last kilometer of industrial landing, and then from the industrial technology to feed back the basic research, the most important thing is the cooperation of the four parties of industry, education, research and medicine, enterprises and universities, new research and development institutions, hospitals in-depth cooperation, cross-departmental, cross-industry, cross-regional collaborative innovation." Zhang Qiang said.
"We'd love to replicate this model." Song Yang, director of the Basic Research Department of the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission, said. In 2021, the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission took the lead in officially launching the "Explorer Plan", guiding and encouraging qualified key enterprises to jointly establish scientific research plans with the government, focusing on important scientific issues and key technical problems in the development of the three key industries of integrated circuits, biomedicine and artificial intelligence, and adopting the method of "unveiling the leader" to promote independent innovation.
"What is the working mechanism of the human brain? What lesions occur for specific brain diseases? How does the structure of the human brain empower AI algorithms? This is a feature of the China Brain Project. Shen Dinggang said that he hopes that through research, not only can we make exciting discoveries in the field of brain science, but also provide opportunities for domestic large equipment to achieve the autonomy and controllability of core key technologies, and form a unique "Chinese brain plan". (Reporters Zhou Lin and Sun Qing)
Source: Xinhua Daily Telegraph
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