Description of Research Expertise

Research of the Laboratory for Structural, Physiologic and Functional Imaging (LSPFI) is aimed at quantitatively characterizing tissue properties and their relationship to physiology and function by means of spatially resolved magnetic resonance in humans.

Current research is focused on development of novel image-based quantitative methods for the study of tissue oxygen metabolism at enhanced temporal and spatial resolution, and their application to the study of degenerative and acquired vascular disease of the brain and other organ systems. A related area of concentration is development of technology for the evaluation of preclinical vascular disease allowing quantification of markers of endothelial dysfunction in the systemic circulation. Applications of these methods currently in progress target the peripheral, central and neurovascular system in subjects exposed to e-cigarette aerosol inhalation, subjects affected by various lifestyle related conditions, and in patients with sleep disorders. Other ongoing projects target development of new techniques for the study of bone matrix and mineral properties applied to the evaluation and treatment of degenerative bone disease, the conception of methods for constructing cranial models as surgical aids, and assessment of metabolic and degenerative skeletal disorders by means of image-based computational biomechanics with the longer-term goal of creating orthopedic applications, including patient-specific hip fracture prediction involving generation of high-resolution 3D anatomical models.

Selected Publications

Kamona N, Ng JJ, Kim Y, D Vu BT, Vossough A, Wagner CS, Cordray H, Lee H, Villavisanis DF, Rajapakse CS, Bartlett SP, Wehrli FW.: Craniofacial imaging of pediatric patients by ultrashort echo-time bone-selective MRI in comparison to CT. Acad Radiol. : S1076-6332,2024.

Vu BD, Kamona N, Kim Y, Ng JJ, Jones BC, Wehrli FW, Song HK, Bartlett SP, Lee, H, Rajapakse CS.: Three contrasts in 3 min: rapid, high-resolution, and bone-selective UTE MRI for craniofacial imaging with automated deep-learning skull segmentation. Magn Reson Med. : 2024.

Schwab RJ, Lin TC, Wiemken A, Dedhia RC, Wehrli FW, Keenan BT.: State-dependent biomechanical behavior of oropharyngeal structures in apneics and controls: a proof-of-concept study Ann Am Thorac Soc. 21 (6): 949-960,2024.

Deshpande RS, Langham MC, Lee H, Kamona N, Wehrli FW.: Quantification of whole-organ individual and bilateral renal metabolic rate of oxygen. Magn Reson Med. 91 (5): 2057-2073,2024.

Nabbout M, Langham MC, Cottrell C, Wehrli FW.: Quantification of neurovascular compliance with retrospectively gated phase-contrast MRI MAGMA 37 (2): 307-314,2024.

Xu J, Wiemken A, Langham MC, Rao H, Nabbout M, Caporale AS, Schwab RJ, Detre JA, Wehrli FW.: Sleep‐stage‐dependent alterations in cerebral oxygen metabolism quantified by magnetic resonance. J Neurosci Res. 102 (3): e25313,2024.

Kamona N, Jones BC, Lee H, Song HK, Rajapakse CS, Wagner CS, Bartlett SP, Wehrli FW.: Cranial bone imaging using ultrashort echo-time bone-selective MRI as an alternative to gradient-echo based "black-bone" techniques MAGMA 37 (1): 83-92,2024.

Deshpande RS, Langham MC, Susztak K, Wehrli FW.: MRI-based quantification of whole-organ renal metabolic rate of oxygen NMR Biomed 37 (1): e5036,2024.

Caporale AS, Barclay AM, Xu J, Rao H, Lee H, Langham MC, Detre JA, Wehrli FW.: Superior sagittal sinus flow as a proxy for tracking global cerebral blood flow dynamics during wakefulness and sleep J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 43 (8): 1340-1350,2023.

Jones BC, Wehrli FW, Kamona N, Deshpande RS, Vu BD, Song HK, Lee H, Grewal RK, Chan TJ, Witschey WR, MacLean MT, Josselyn NJ, Iyer SK, Al Mukaddam M, Snyder PJ, Rajapakse CS.: Automated, calibration-free quantification of cortical bone porosity and geometry in postmenopausal osteoporosis from ultrashort echo time MRI and deep learning Bone 171 : 116743,2023.

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Academic Contact Information

University of Pennsylvania
Perelman School of Medicine
Department of Radiology
MRI Education Center
First Floor Founders Building
3400 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283
Phone: 215-662-7951