Research

The aim of the project is to design and optimize an ultra-short echo-time pulse sequence for a direct measurement of the short-T2 signals arising from white matter of the brain. There are two main obstacles to a reliable detection of myelin sheaths: 1) their signal decays to zero in a few tens of microseconds; and 2) their signal is overwhelmed by the predominant long-T2 components from white matter of the brain.

The TRANSACT project (http://www.transact-itn.eu) brings together 10 academic and 4 industrial partners with complementary expertise in the field of magnetic resonance imaging techniques.This consortium as a whole will provide 468 person-months of employment and training to 13 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) recruited for this ITN project.

The project will investigate artificial high frequency electromagnetic structures composed generally from sub-wavelength cells that show unusual electromagnetic response not appearing in nature. These are planar artificial magnetic, and electro-magnetic surfaces, electro-magnetic band-gap, and frequency selective materials including graphene. Materials will be theoretically described and analyzed. The research will be supplemented by fabrication of specimens for experimental verification of their behavior. Investigation of graphene preparation methods will be included.

The project aims at introducing in electron microscopes novel techniques responding to needs of nanotechnologies, development of advanced materials, and application of knowledge acquired in biology and medicine. This concerns imaging of crystals including 2D ones, non-conductive surfaces, imaging the wave-optical contrasts, etc. Novel materials, technologies of their processing and novel components of the scanning electron microscopes will be developed, accompanied with adequate methodology.