Center of MR-Research

The research activities at the Center of MR-Research of the University Children’s Hospital Zurich are in accordance with the main research topics of Neurosciences at the Medical Faculty, the Neuroscience Center and the Center for Integrative Human Physiology of the University of Zurich.

The research group of the Center of MR-Research consists of graduated and post-graduated scientists in the fields of medicine, physics, biochemistry, neurobiology, neurophysiology and psychology.

As a division of the Children’s Hospital and partner of the Department of Diagnostic Imaging our research group is active in investigating various aspects of normal and deviant development of the human brain. By means of various MR modalities (structural and functional imaging as well as MR spectroscopy) different topics within the field of basic research in neurology and neuropsychology are targeted. A goal thereby is not only the description of these developmental processes but also and first of all the transfer of the acquired knowledge into the daily clinical diagnostics.

Our research does not only follow international ethics guidelines, we also try to create a pleasant and playful atmosphere for our young volunteers. Therefore, we provide audiovisual entertainment to keep the examinations as exciting as possible.

In close co-operation with neurosurgeons at the University Hospital Zurich, computer scientists at the ETH Zurich and industrial partners a completely new system for non-invasive intracranial neurosurgical interventions is developed based on MR-guided high-energy focused ultrasound (tcMRgFUS). The goal thereby is to thermally ablate tissue or alter tissue by moderately heating (e.g. opening of the blood-brain barrier) via application of focused acoustic energy to a target within the brain. This new technology is neither invasiv, nor does it make use of radioactive tracer. Therefore, tcMRgFUS is a unique method for non-invasive neurosurgical interventions.

The different research projects are supported by the Swiss National Foundation (SNF), the National Center for Competence in Research (NCCR Co-Me), the University Children’s Hospital, the University of Zurich (UniZh), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETHZ) as well as by private foundations.