Non-metallic earbuds for auditory stimuli in MRI scanners
Ended Project Grant Awarded Last action
- Award ID
- R43DC021136
- Recipient
-
Sensimetrics Corp UEI K7K5N8L26UN3
- Awarding agency
-
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communincation Disorders
National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services
- Obligated
- $275,765
Award facts
- Assistance listing
- 93.173 Research Related to Deafness and Communication Disorders
- Completion date
- Place of performance
- Massachusetts, USA
Award details come from USAspending.gov.
Description
- Abstract
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has led to significant advances in the study of brain structure and function. In studies of auditory perception and speech-related functions, the earphones used to deliver stimuli in an MR scanner must not contain ferrous or magnetic metals due to the scanner's immense magnetic field strength. In addition, the strong magnetic gradients and radio frequency energy used during a scan can induce electric currents even in non-ferrous metal components, which must be carefully designed to prevent excessive heating. Finally, any metallic structures can interfere with the imaging process, leading to artifacts in the image. New imaging protocols to improve spatial resolution and temporal sensitivity can increase energy deposition and heating in materials with magnetic susceptibility that were unaffected under older imaging protocols. While most of the world's MR scanners use magnetic field strengths of 3 tesla (t) or less, the demand for higher imaging resolution drives demand for scanners with greater field strength, making them a fast-growing sector of the scanner market. Increasingly, research centers are installing human MR systems capable of static field strengths of 7T or higher, with about 100 such scanners installed worldwide; a handful of 9T scanners are already in operation, and a massive 11.7T human system is online at the neurospin facility in france. For animal research, small-bore scanners with ultra-high fields are in use. The growing presence of ultra-high field systems will require earphones that can provide research- grade auditory stimuli without compromising safety or introducing image distortions. There is no commercially available audio driver that is free of metallic components. Even our company's current earbuds-mostly used in 1.5T and 3T scanners-include some (non-ferrous) metallic components as mechanical sound amplifiers and electrical conductors. Successive generations of earbud models have progressively reduced metallic components to minimize imaging artifacts and heating, but this iterative material reduction is no longer sufficient. Instead, a fundamentally new approach is required-we propose to build earbuds entirely free of metallic components. For this, we will develop a novel audio driver that does not require metal parts to deliver research-quality audio stimuli. The design will then be tested in 7T and 11.7T scanners.
Transactions
| Action | Obligated | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Amendment | $0 | |
| Original award | $275,765 |
Quick answers
Who received award R43DC021136?
R43DC021136 was awarded to Sensimetrics Corp by National Institute on Deafness and Other Communincation Disorders (National Institutes of Health) on December 10, 2023.
How much is award R43DC021136 worth?
$275,765 has been obligated on R43DC021136.
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