On November 15th, 2023, Frédéric Grouiller, Head of the CIBM MRI HUG UNIGE section, introduced Dr João Jorge the first speaker of the newly launched CIBM 7T MRI Seminar Series which took place at the Campus Biotech in Geneva.
Insights
The substantial gains in sensitivity and contrast achievable with 7T MRI offer outstanding possibilities to image human brain structure and function and resolve fine-scale activity across cortical layers and small subcortical structures. The latest generation Terra systems are becoming the new standard for 7T imaging; with them, several landmark developments such as high-density receive RF arrays, simultaneous-multislice EPI, and soon parallel transmit RF pulses are becoming out-of-the-box tools for both research and clinical applications. At the same time, however, important caveats & challenges need to be acknowledged, and eventually overcome. In this talk, Joao shared an overview of their experience so far with a Terra system for applications in high-resolution fMRI and combined EEG-fMRI. He also touched upon some work on structural MRI that is interesting for neuroscientists and neuroradiologists.
João Jorge
Research Fellow, Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM)
João Jorge is an EPFL and CIBM alumnus, and currently a research fellow at the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), leading a small team funded by the SNSF. His research interests are centered on human neuroimaging and especially 7T MRI methods, both structural and functional – including the development and improvement of susceptibility-based contrasts (SWI, QSM), for applications such as thalamic nuclei imaging, and work in high-resolution fMRI as well as its combination with EEG, respiration and vascular sensors. At CSEM, he is also closely involved in the development of systems and algorithms for compact/wearable EEG and photoplethysmography (PPG; vascular & respiratory sensing).