Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging

The primary goal in the coming years will be to extend the Institute's competencies at ultra-high field. This includes both the application of 7-Tesla technology to clinical diagnostic workups of the entire body, but also the interdisciplinary application of 7-Tesla technology to explore cognitive processes. The particular advantages at 7T for functional activation studies of the human brain should, for example, enable new insights into such questions as the neural correlates for purchasing decisions, for the interaction with new media, or for judgements in the context of everyday moral dilemmas.
In 2009, researchers at the Erwin L. Hahn Institute successfully applied jointly with the Departments of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine to the German Research Foundation for funding of a whole-body hybrid Magnetic Resonance/Positron Emission Tomograph. Essen was selected as one of three sites to evaluate and further develop this technology. Erwin L. Hahn scientists will be pursuing joint research projects utilising this unique instrument after its installation some time at the end of 2010.