Alireza Akbari

people_akbari_alireza.jpg

Research Associate

I am a Research Associate working with Dr. Timothy Scholl and Dr. Christopher. McIntyre. I am interested in the in-vivo detection of sodium in human tissues using fast Magnetic Resonance Imaging techniques.

Sodium is one of the most important cations in the body. It presents throughout the whole body and has numerous roles; it is involved in maintaining body homeostasis, pH balance, muscle contraction, and signal transmission to name a few. Sodium concentration inside the cell is reported to be about 10 times smaller than outside of the cell. This concentration gradient is maintained at all times to ensure cellular viability. Any disturbance of this gradient could be sign of a developing disease. Hence, sodium could be used as a biomarker for detection and evaluation of diseases inside body.

Sodium Magnetic resonance imaging (Na23 MRI) is a non-invasive technique that can probe tissue sodium levels. Na23MRI is becoming an indispensable tool in clinical setting. It has proved to be effective in detecting brain, breast, prostate cancer. It has been used to evaluating kidney function in chronic kidney disease patients. These applications just to name a few.