The Institute research in biomedical imaging is carried by NeuroSpin and the Service Hospitalier Frédéric Joliot (SHFJ). It concerns the different imaging modalities (very high magnetic field MRI, PET scan, PET scan, optical imaging) and is based on two axes:

• Technological and methodological developments,  
• Preclinical and clinical research.

The objective of the first axis is the optimization of data acquisition and processing. Thus, this axis includes the development and / or evaluation of imaging agents, the physics of MRI (acquisition sequences adapted to ultra-high magnetic fields, radiofrequency pulsed antennas for MRI, transmission parallel, etc.), the reconstruction, image processing and implementation of associated computer architectures, and finally the analysis of data from multiple origins (biological, genetic and imagery).

The second one is about using imaging to conduct biomedical, preclinical or clinical research. Imaging enable us to study the fundamental mechanisms of physiological, normal or pathological functions (neurodegenerative, neurological, psychiatric and cardiovascular diseases, cancers ...). The identification and / or validation of imaging biomarkers allows the development of imaging protocols for early diagnosis and evaluation of treatment efficacy. Another aspect of this axis concerns the exploration of cognitive functions in man (child and adult), during development and normal or pathological aging, using both approaches of neuropsychology and imaging.

The basics on biomedical imaging