Functional Brain Imaging Analysis

Photo credit: Juliet Janiszewski

The Atrium in the Golisano College is bursting with exhibitors and visitors to ImagineRIT. Behind a large tree in the atrium, there is a table with a lone exhibitor waiting for a visitor to ask about his exhibit. Zhenghui Hu, a Post Doctoral Research Scientist in GCCIS, is ready to talk about Functional Brain Imaging Analysis.

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) allows medical professionals to observe human brain function in a non-invasive way. fMRI measures the dynamic regulation of blood flow in the brain, also known as the haemodynamic response, related to neural activity and the spinal cord. fMRI allows doctors to better understand how the brain works based on the changes in blood flow that are captured. Due to the non-invasive nature of the process, fMRI has become an indispensable tool for biomedical research and clinical diagnosis.

Visitors to Hu's exhibit learn what fMRI is used for, and receive a basic explanation of how it works. Additionally, Hu presents a general framework for the analysis of fMRI data using various physiological models and how these physiological models aid in computer-based diagnosis.

"We proposed a integrative approach of the function of an MRI image and an MRI angiography image," Hu said, extolling the innovative properties of fMRI.

fMRI is not limited to providing information about medical issues. In the future, fMRIs could be used to enable doctors and other medical professionals to get inside of our mental processes to determine what we are thinking and feeling.

Zhenghui Hu's exhibit, Functional Brain Imaging Analysis for Computer Aided Diagnosis, will be happening all day in the Atrium of the Golisano building.