Overview

This four-hour course will highlight the role of MRI in the functional assessment of the musculoskeletal system response to exercise. Topics to be covered include diagnostic evaluation of athletic injuries, clinical research applications of MRI in functional evaluation of cartilage, advanced MR techniques for evaluation of tissue motion, biomechanics, and muscle physiology, and the growing application of MRI in the study of metabolic syndrome and obesity.

Educational Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, attendees should be able to:
• More accurately diagnose overuse injuries in athletes;
• Evaluate MRI applications for the study of tissue biomechanics; and
• Identify effects of exercise on articular cartilage and muscle physiology

Audience Description

This course is designed for clinicians and researchers with an interest in MRI for diagnosis of exercise related injury and translational research applications in exercise physiology, and with graduate level education or higher in MRI, exercise physiology, or diagnostic radiology

Attendees should have a working knowledge of MRI anatomy and clinical imaging techniques of joints. They should be familiar with the following research applications: Delayed gadolinium enhanced MRI of cartilage (dGEMRIC), Cartilage T2 mapping, MR elastography, and BOLD imaging.