Virtual Meetings

The goal of this webinar is to discuss environmental sustainability in MRI including an introduction to planetary health and the broad environmental impact of medical imaging, provide an overview of specific and practical actions that can be implemented to improve sustainability in MRI including energy-saving actions and waste reduction, and highlight the role of artificial intelligence and technical innovation to promote sustainability in MRI. The session will include a panel discussion with all speakers with an opportunity for audience engagement and participation.

This virtual meeting aims to enhance understanding of white matter pathology and its implications for diagnosis and treatment. Geert Jan Biessels, M.D., Ph.D., from University Medical Center Utrecht, offers a deep dive into advanced imaging techniques that go beyond traditional lesion counting. Klaus Schmierer, MBBS, Ph.D., FRCP, from the Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, will address white matter imaging markers for multiple sclerosis, highlighting approaches including recent discoveries.

Recent breakthroughs in perfusion MRI research reveal a widespread distribution of tracers in the brain (including intravascular and freely diffusible tracers) extending beyond the bloodstream into the CSF. This has sparked interest into new questions looking at blood-CSF exchange and how we can measure and gain a better understanding of where various tracers end up and move around in the brain. What is the implication of being able to measure the movement of tracers beyond perfusion and what factors mediate this movement? Are perfusion MRI techniques and models sufficiently sensitive to detect and quantify blood CSF exchange? How do we validate them? This virtual meeting has a fundamental focus in which we invite three speakers to share the latest developments in perfusion methods for CSF detection as well as the next questions to address in this exciting field of research.

Ultra-high field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems, featuring field strength of 7 Tesla (T) and beyond, make it possible to see pathologies at a sub-millimeter resolution currently not detected with conventional MRIs (3T or less). However, using these systems at their full potential at the interface between research and clinic is not straightforward. Among the difficulties, large spatial inhomogeneities of the static magnetic field, causing image artifacts such as distortions and signal loss, limit clinical interpretation. Adding to this complexity, these inhomogeneities not only vary in space but also in time due to respiration [1] causing additional artifacts in the images. It should also be noted that this last limitation not only concerns 7T MRI, but also conventional MRI (3T or less) when acquisitions are made in regions most sensitive to these artefacts, such as the spinal cord or the heart. In this talk, we will look at the causes and effects of these susceptibility artifacts and discuss software and hardware strategies to mitigate them. In particular, we will look at a recent framework to compensate field inhomogeneities in real-time using hybrid coil technologies (AC/DC) [2, 3].

[1]: https://paperpile.com/app/p/9590a7aa-b814-0e08-9929-dc86ae6d42cc
[2]: https://paperpile.com/app/p/4e6c4b2a-ba7e-0587-b577-dd803da62f49
[3]: https://paperpile.com/app/p/ac1779bd-4a67-0a03-94ec-4683fdc6499c

Our annual MCI virtual meeting will feature an invited speaker followed by four trainee talks on of imaging inflammation.

This virtual meeting will take on a unique format unlike the traditional approach of a scientific presentation followed by Q&A or a panel. Instead, we will invite leaders from key scientific organizations that focus on MR safety, including the American College of Radiology (ACR), the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), the ISMRM Safety Committee, and the Society for Pediatric Research (SPR). The session will feature a panel discussion to deeply explore the gaps in MR safety research needs, following brief overviews of each society’s focus areas and a review of the recent survey results led by the MR Safety Study Group.

Join us for a focused symposium on the fundamental and advanced aspects of clinical/applied study design in the field of MR in psychiatry. This event will feature two presentations covering key elements required to develop scientifically rigorous and ethically sound clinical/applied research in psychiatry.

The first session will cover the critical steps in designing an applied study, including population selection, sample size determination, MRI protocol setup, sequence selection, and establishing primary and secondary outcome measures. The talk will also address ethical considerations and strategies for study pre-registration.

The second session will focus on the challenges encountered in applied/clinical research design, including longitudinal vs. cross-sectional studies, statistical methodologies, randomization techniques, and handling bias and missing data. The session will conclude with guidance on selecting appropriate journals for publication.

This symposium will provide valuable insights for researchers looking to enhance the rigor and integrity of their clinical study designs and will provide an opportunity for discussion and questions.

Cardiac MRI has seen remarkable advancements with ongoing innovation in clinical applications and technical developments. Recent efforts have focused on improving the speed and robustness of imaging through accelerated acquisitions, deep learning-based reconstructions and AI-powered workflows, low-field MRI solutions, as well as novel contrast-enhanced and non-contrast-enhanced imaging techniques, among many others. Clinically, cardiac MRI is expanding its impact, particularly in the fields of heart failure, ischemic heart disease, and congenital conditions. This virtual meeting will explore the latest breakthroughs and future directions in cardiac MRI, fostering discussion on how these innovations are shaping the future of cardiac MRI.

This virtual meeting will explore the latest advancements in how functional brain networks can be studied using pharmacological fMRI approaches. The event will feature two speakers who will discuss cutting-edge methodologies and applications that integrate molecular, functional, and dynamic aspects of brain activity.

The first presentation will delve into cortical dynamics and connectivity across multiple scales and modalities in various states of altered consciousness. The speaker will discuss their research on brain connectivity during anesthesia, sleep, and disorders of consciousness, as well as under the influence of psychedelics such as LSD. By integrating data from different imaging modalities, including fMRI, with information theory, network science, and whole-brain computational modeling, the presentation will explore how brain networks reconfigure and adapt across different states, offering a comprehensive view of the underlying mechanisms that govern conscious and unconscious states.

The second presentation will mainly focus on the Receptor-Enriched Analysis of Functional Connectivity by Targets (REACT) method. REACT is a molecular-informed functional imaging approach that enhances traditional resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) analyses by incorporating data on the distribution and density of neuroreceptors throughout the brain. This method enables researchers to investigate how pharmacological interventions and drugs impact functional connectivity (FC) by linking receptor distribution to changes in brain networks. For instance, REACT has been used to study the effects of MDMA on serotonin circuits, methylphenidate (MPH) on dopaminergic and noradrenergic circuits, and propofol on GABAergic transmission and consciousness. Through these examples, the speaker will demonstrate how this approach can provide valuable insights into the neurochemical underpinnings of different functional states.

This meeting will be an excellent opportunity for researchers and clinicians interested in multimodal neuroimaging, pharmacology, and consciousness studies to gain insights into innovative approaches that bridge molecular, functional, and dynamic aspects of brain research.