CIBM Special Seminar Series on MRI
Between November 6th and 8th 2023, the EPFL School of Basic Sciences Institute of Physics – IPHYS , the EPFL School of Engineering Institute of Electrical and Micro Engineering – IEM and the CIBM Center for Biomedical Imaging will be hosting five leading experts in the field of Magnetic Resonance Imaging.
Mark your calendars and join us in person at EPFL Auditiorium BM 5202 or virtually on Zoom for the CIBM Special Seminar Series on MRI!
DAY 1 - November 6th
10:00 - 11:00 SEMINAR 1 : Intelligent Physics-Driven Technologies for Inverse Problems in MRI
Abstract
Lengthy data acquisition remains a major bottleneck in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), often necessitating tradeoffs in resolution and signal-to-noise ratio. Thus, reconstruction and acquisition techniques for rapid imaging, noise reduction, and improved data acquisition have received great interest. Each of these directions correspond to a specific inverse problem with its own distinct forward operator dictated by the underlying imaging physics.
In this talk, we will describe recent advances that link these inverse problems in MRI through the lens of intelligent physics-driven technologies. We will first focus on physics-driven deep learning (DL) methods for accelerated MRI. In this context, we will overview our pioneering work on self-supervised learning strategies for training such reconstruction algorithms when ground-truth data is not available, which is a common problem in MRI. We will also show how these can be extended to a subject-specific zero-shot setting when a training database cannot be curated. We will then explore state-of-the-art methods for denoising MRI series that utilize random matrix theory-based approaches. We will discuss how this strategy can be combined with physics-driven DL reconstruction to provide a synergistic improvement. Finally, we will overview emerging developments for improving radiofrequency pulse design with a focus on improving field inhomogeneity at ultrahigh field strengths.
Mehmet Akçakaya,
University of Minnesota
About the speaker
Mehmet Akçakaya is a Jim and Sara Anderson Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He received the Bachelor's degree with great distinction from McGill University, Montreal, QC; and the S.M. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. He was an Instructor at the Harvard Medical School prior to joining the University of Minnesota. His work on computational imaging and accelerated MRI has received a number of international recognitions and best paper awards. He was the recipient of a Trailblazer Award from NIH and a CAREER Award from NSF. His research interests include computational imaging, machine learning, MRI, inverse problems and image processing.
16:00 - 17:00 SEMINAR 2 : Towards robust quantitative magnetic resonance imaging
Abstract
Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (qMRI) enables the extraction of quantitative information to improve modern diagnostics and monitor therapy response. qMRI has been a rapidly evolving research area over the recent years thanks primarily to advancements in imaging hardware and the introduction of novel acceleration techniques. Despite some recent success cases, qMRI remains not widely used in the clinical setting because of its lack of robustness, especially in body imaging. Specifically, physiological motion remains a major source of artifacts in qMRI of trunk organs, gradient imperfections induce quantification errors, and the presence of fat confounds most quantitative measurements.
The present presentation will overview recently proposed technical advancements to improve the robustness of qMRI with an emphasis on body organs and musculoskeletal tissues. Approaches to compensate for motion effects, to address gradient hardware imperfections and to remove the effect of fat will be introduced with a specific focus on qMRI techniques aiming to measure diffusion, relaxation, chemical species fractions, and magnetic susceptibility. The importance of addressing the above confounding effects will be highlighted in the context of some recent successful qMRI biomarkers, clinical translation examples will be provided and an outlook for addressing remaining challenges will be discussed.
Dimitrios Karampinos,
Technical University Munich
About the speaker
Dimitrios Karampinos studied engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece, graduating with honors in 2003. In 2008, he obtained his PhD with a focus on biomedical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Between 2009 and 2012, he was a Postdoctoral Scholar in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco. He joined the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) in 2012 as a Junior Group Leader and he was appointed as an Assistant Professor to the TUM School of Medicine in 2019. He is an ISMRM Junior Fellow (2011), a European Research Council (ERC) grantee (Starting Grant 2015 and Proof-of-Concept Grant 2019) and a recipient of the 2020 TUM supervisory award (recognizing the best TUM supervisor of doctoral students). He has been a past member of the Publications and Trainee Stipend Committees of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), is the current past chair of the Musculoskeletal MR ISMRM Study Group, and will be joining the Editorial Board of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine in 2024.
Prof. Karampinos’ research focuses on the development of new methods for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). His research group develops MRI acquisition, image reconstruction, and signal modeling techniques in order to generate new quantitative MRI biomarkers and to increase the robustness and effectiveness of quantitative MRI biomarkers with a focus on diffusion, relaxometry, fat quantification, and magnetic susceptibility mapping techniques. Many of the methods developed by his research group have been translated into clinical studies for improving the diagnosis, therapy monitoring, and understanding of disease pathophysiology in musculoskeletal disorders, metabolic diseases, and body oncology.
DAY 2 - November 7th
10:00 - 11:00 SEMINAR 3 : Brain neurochemistry studied with in vivo magnetic resonance spectroscopy
Abstract
1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) provides a non-invasive way to quantify metabolites in vivo and is unique among imaging modalities because signals from several metabolites are measured noninvasively during a single examination period. Each observable metabolite can provide distinctive information about intracellular processes since metabolites are primarily located in the intracellular compartment of the brain. More than 20 metabolites have been identified and quantified in human and animal brains.
In my talk, I will focus on the applications of MRS to study metabolism in the human brain to better understand changes happening during aging and Alzheimer’s disease, describe the discovery of a metabolite previously not seen in the human brain in vivo, and highlight the potential of MRS for in vivo identification of brain tumors.
Malgorzata Marjańska,
University of Minnesota
About the speaker
Małgorzata (Gosia) Marjańska is a Professor in the Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota, who specializes in magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). She received a B.S. in chemistry with a minor in mathematics from the Loyola University of Chicago, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. She joined the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR) at the University of Minnesota in 2002 as a post-doctoral fellow and remained there as a faculty. Dr. Marjańska is interested in developing MRS techniques for humans and rodents over a wide range of field strengths (3 T to 16.4 T) and application of those methods to study various diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, dystonia, depression, and brain tumors.
15:00 - 16:00 SEMINAR 4 : Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Metabolic Research
Abstract
Many chronic diseases are characterized by a mismatch between high substrate availability (with increased lipid and glycogen stores) and insufficient oxidative capacity. In line, increased adipose tissue volume and increased lipid storage in liver, skeletal muscle and myocardium is associated with the development of insulin resistance, an early hallmark in the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus and other chronic metabolic diseases. At the same time, we have shown impaired mitochondrial function (reduced oxidative capacity) in these organs, favouring ‘lipotoxicity’. To assess such metabolic changes in these tissues in humans, multinuclear (1H, 13C-, 31P-) MRS is employed. This allows the investigation of metabolism in detail, and to monitor interventions targeting improvements in metabolic health. In recent year, we have developed new MRS sequences and made methodological improvements to specifically target metabolites that are not directly visible in MR spectra, and this has opened new avenues to gain even more non-invasive information that was not accessible to date. In this way, non-invasively determining hepatic fatty acid composition, muscle acetylcarnitine and NAD+/NADH levels has been instrumental in further unravelling the aetiology of diabetes and NAFLD.
Vera Schrauwen-Hinderling,
University of Maastricht & German Diabetes Center
About the speaker
The research of prof. Vera Schrauwen-Hinderling is at the interface between the technical field of non-invasive imaging and implementation in clinical and metabolic research. Her research focuses on developing and applying novel magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) techniques to investigate the aetiology of insulin resistance in type 2 diabetes mellitus and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). After completing a double degree at ETH Zurich (Biochemistry and Human Nutrition), she pursued her doctoral training at the Department of Radiology at the Maastricht University Medical Center in Maastricht, The Netherlands. She developed several novel MR techniques to investigate metabolism in skeletal muscle, liver, and heart, using 1H-, 31P- and 13C-methodology.
Schrauwen-Hinderling leads an interdisciplinary research team at the crossroads of methodological development in imaging and physiology and since 2022, holds a chair on ‘metabolic imaging with special focus on MRS’. She has received prestigious personal grants from, among others, the Dutch Research Organisation (NWO) and the European Research Council (ERC). Since 2020 Schrauwen-Hinderling is also group leader of the ‘Metabolic Imaging’ group at the German Diabetes Center in Dusseldorf. She is associate editor of Diabetologia, and member of board member of DIABIMAGE, a study group, committed to the promotion of biometabolic imaging in diabetes.
DAY 3 - November 8th
9:00 - 10:00 SEMINAR 5 : Magnetic Resonance Imaging at the Intersection of Academic Research, Clinical Applications, and Industrial Development
Abstract
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is a highly interdisciplinary subject that encompasses the natural sciences, engineering disciplines and medicine. It is often at the intersection of these fields where scientists, engineers and medical professionals meet, discuss and identify unmet needs and new opportunities. Most of my academic-industrial career has occurred at this very intersection, resulting in exciting new research and development projects and innovative product introductions through global collaborations. During this presentation, I’ll describe several examples covering a wide of range of MR technologies, including: system engineering, pulse sequence design, image reconstruction, quantitative parameter mapping, hyperpolarized 13C metabolic imaging and spectroscopy, simultaneous hybrid PET/MR, and deep learning-based MR-only radiation therapy.
Florian Wiesinger,
King’s College London & GE Heathcare
About the speaker
Dr. Wiesinger is Principal Scientist at GE HealthCare and Visiting Professor at King's College London. Additionally, he is also Principal Investigator of an EU-EIT Health funded project focusing on Deep Learning based MR-only Radiation Therapy. Prior to joining GE HealthCare in 2017, Dr. Wiesinger was Senior Scientist at the European GE Global Research center located at the Technical University in Munich. He received his PhD from the Institute for Biomedical Engineering at ETH Zurich and studied Technical Physics at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz. Dr. Wiesinger’s research covers a wide spectrum of MR physics and engineering developments, and has resulted in numerous new MR product innovations.
If you plan to attend online, please use this zoom link: https://epfl.zoom.us/j/6289466345