Virtual Meetings

The Molecular & Cellular Imaging Study Group invites researchers, clinicians, and students to an engaging session focused on the emerging field of MRI-based theranostics. This meeting will explore the integration of molecular imaging and therapeutic strategies using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as both a diagnostic and treatment-monitoring tool. Participants will gain insights into the principles of molecular and cellular MRI, including the design of targeted contrast agents, nanoparticle-based systems, and smart probes that enable real-time visualization of disease progression and therapeutic response.

Through a series of presentations and discussions, the study group will highlight recent advancements in MRI-guided drug delivery, personalized medicine, and noninvasive monitoring of cellular and molecular processes. Special emphasis will be placed on translational research bridging laboratory findings with clinical applications, covering areas such as oncology, neurodegenerative disorders, and cardiovascular disease.

This meeting provides a unique platform for interdisciplinary exchange, encouraging collaboration among molecular biologists, chemists, imaging scientists, and healthcare professionals. Attendees will have the opportunity to share their research, discuss challenges in MRI-based theranostic development, and identify future directions for innovation in this rapidly evolving field.

Quantitation is currently an important trend in MR research, and musculoskeletal imaging is part of this trend. With new methods being developed, and many already being tested in a research setting, we raise the question: is qMRI ready for clinical applications in musculoskeletal imaging?

In this virtual meeting, we are hosting two clinicians, Mauro Monforte, neurologist, and Daichi Hayashi, radiologist, who will talk about current trends and applications of qMRI in clinical practice, in the muscle and in the skeletal system.

This virtual seminar will focus on recent advances in motion correction in fetal and placental MRI. Our expert speakers will describe various motion correction strategies implemented during both acquisition and post-processing, with a focus on imaging the fetal heart, placenta, and uterus. The seminar will explore state-of-the-art techniques designed to address image artifacts caused by fetal movement and maternal respiration. Attendees can expect to gain a comprehensive understanding of current motion correction strategies for fetal-placental MRI, including the strengths, limitations, and practical applications of these methods in both clinical and research settings. A live Q&A session will follow the presentations.

The ISMRM MR Contrast Agents Study Group will host its inaugural webinar focused on ferumoxytol-enhanced MRI. The program will review recent technical and clinical developments and highlight applications where ferumoxytol is already impacting diagnostic imaging and areas where it may soon broaden clinical utility. Safety and dosing will be covered with practical guidance, including workflow tips for screening, infusion, and post-scan monitoring. Clinical and research applications will be showcased, with emphasis on cardiovascular imaging and examples. The session concludes with an extended Q&A and panel discussion on real-world implementation, protocol optimization, and risk mitigation. The webinar targets radiologists, cardiologists, physicists, technologists, and trainees.

This webinar series will provide a guide to writing strong ISMRM Registered Abstracts with an emphasis on key success elements, common pitfalls, and practical examples relevant for all researchers. This abstract category was introduced for the first time for the 2024 annual meeting. In this session, we will hear specific suggestions on preparing these Registered Abstracts based on feedback from our first year.

This one-hour virtual session is hosted by the Flow & Motion Quantitation Study Group. It will spotlight two innovative 4D flow MRI approaches. Haben Berhane will present a deep learning-based technique that combines anatomical models with fluid dynamics to derive 3D aortic hemodynamics using a large 4D flow clinical database. Charles McGrath, Ph.D., will present a novel method for referenceless 4D flow MRI using radial bSSFP at 0.6T, demonstrating the potential of low-field imaging without the need for traditional phase correction. Both presentations challenge the norms of acquisition and analysis, promising discussions on the techniques, accuracy, accessibility, and clinical integration. Whether you are research-focused or clinically oriented, this is not your usual 4D flow meeting.

We will have our first MRI Coils Study Group with a focus on breast.

This October’s ISMRT Virtual Meeting spotlights two tightly linked brain-MRI masterclasses from the MRI technologists in Vietnam. Hoang Ngoc Thanh, MSc, RT(R)(CT)(MR), will demystify brain morphometry on how we measure volumes, surfaces, and cortical thickness, and why technical choices (resolution, preprocessing, and software selection) make or break reproducibility and clinical insight. Nguyen Thao Van, MSc, RT, then dives into post-contrast SWI, sharing preliminary observations on how gadolinium alters signal behavior, why CE-SWI can sharpen visualization of microvasculature and microhemorrhages in brain tumors, and how sequence timing after injection can improve diagnostic value. Together, the sessions equip radiographers and radiologists with practical levers, standardized pipelines, smart parameter selection, and optimized post-contrast timing to deliver more reliable morphometric metrics and improved susceptibility maps.

During MRI, RF-induced thermal stress of tissues is managed by limiting the specific absorption rate (SAR), which is used as a surrogate for temperature increase. In principle, both global and local values of SAR can be restricted. Global SAR is easier to assess, for example, taking the ratio between the measured absorbed power and the patient mass, but it provides average information only. In contrast, local SAR is much more difficult to estimate, but it has the potential to “personalize” safety, possibly allowing to widen the safety margins and exploiting the full power of MRI. The spatial distribution of local SAR is influenced by several factors, including body size, posture, and position within the scanner. In addition, a truly subject-specific SAR assessment would require knowledge about the heterogeneity of tissues, with their dielectric properties.

The virtual meeting aims to provide an up-to-date overview of the available scientific evidence about the variability of subject-specific SAR and possible solutions to assess it. Special attention will be paid to electric properties tomography (EPT), which estimates the patient’s dielectric properties from complex B1 maps and can provide an estimation of electric field maps to enable an estimation of subject-specific local SAR. To provide a comprehensive picture and explore the benefits of subject-specific SAR, the discussion will be supplemented with a presentation on the relationship between SAR limits and thermal thresholds.

Do you feel you lack the big-picture insight into the different cardiac MRI methods and how they are applied clinically?

Join this trainee-initiated webinar (open to everyone) designed to unravel the complexities of clinical cardiac MRI and bridge the gap between research innovations and clinical applications. The session will provide an overview of the different types of cardiac MRI images used in clinical practice, outlining what parameters and qualitative assessments are derived from each modality, the specific clinical questions these assessments address, and how their answers can directly influence a patient’s future care and management decisions. We will also highlight the current weaknesses and limitations of these techniques and discuss what the research community could do to overcome them. In addition, we will explore emerging and innovative methods in cardiac MRI research and how they could address unmet clinical needs, improve diagnostic accuracy, and open new avenues for treatment planning. This is an excellent opportunity to gain both breadth and depth of insight into the role of cardiac MRI in cardiovascular medicine.

This webinar highlights the use of perfusion imaging in clinical studies, encompassing past experiences, technical considerations, and currently ongoing clinical trials with special focus on potential future clinical trials using ASL.