History
In 2002, the Department of Radiology created a 4,500 sq ft research imaging facility that housed a 3T whole-body magnet, a 1.5T whole-body magnet, and an angiographic C-arm. Both magnets supported human and large animal research. CTI (formerly known as CAMRI) recently expanded to ~9000 sq ft adding two additional 3T whole-body magnets and a 7T small imaging magnet along with ancillary space to support imaging operations for all systems. In 2015 CTI was also equipped with a small animal PET/CT system integrating existing MRI capabilities with nuclear imaging techniques.
CTI is an imaging facility that is run through the FSM Department of Radiology and is open to all Northwestern University researchers. The primary focus of CTI is primarily focused on the development of new MR imaging methods and translation of these developments into research programs at Northwestern University. The main avenues of research are cardiovascular imaging, neuroimaging, and small animal imaging. New avenues of research in molecular imaging using nuclear imaging are also being pursued.
A unique feature of this facility is the strong collaboration with Siemens Healthcare. Siemens research scientists work together with Northwestern University investigators to tackle problems and develop new imaging methods. This close relationship leads to rapid developments and high-quality cutting-edge research.