header-logo
Medical College of Wisconsin School of Graduate Studies U1-Research 2F Microscope Lab-Grad-hero
Zhan Xu

Zhan Xu

Graduate Student

Locations

  • Biophysics

Contact Information

Biography

Mentor: Shi-Jiang Li, PhD
Year Entered MCW: 2012
Previous Education: BS, Biomedical Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, 2007

Research Interests

My research focuses on improving the BOLD (blood-oxygen-level dependent) contrast in the fMRI application, as well as on improving the repeatability of the fMRI signal. To improve the contrast-to-noise ratio and repeatability, the most accepted approach is to increase acquisition duration. However, this method is not efficient enough, and motion artifacts usually become more severe during longer periods of data acquisition. As such, I am developing a new method, named the spatial compensated intro-shot turbo keyhole (SCITH) method. This multi-echo imaging technique aims to improve contrast within the same scan duration as is used in the current fMRI acquisition approach. The SCITH method is developed first at the 3T platform, but it can easily be transferred to the 7T platform. The conventional multi-echo approach is hard to implement due to the fast T2* decay at a strong magnetic field of 7T, but the SCITH method is capable of reducing the echo time interval between echoes as low as 6 ms that break the readout time limitation.

© 2024 Medical College of Wisconsin.  All rights reserved.  | Terms and Privacy 

Non-Discrimination Statement
The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) is committed to fostering a diverse community of outstanding faculty, staff, and students, as well as ensuring equal educational opportunity, employment, and access to services, programs, and activities, without regard to an individual's race, color, national origin, religion, age, disability, sex, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, marital status, pregnancy, predisposing genetic characteristic, or military status. Employees, students, applicants or other members of the MCW community (including but not limited to vendors, visitors, and guests) may not be subjected to harassment that is prohibited by law or treated adversely or retaliated against based upon a protected characteristic. MCW’s policy as well as federal and state laws and regulations prohibit unlawful discrimination and harassment.