JULY 2014 • Vol. 3, Issue 3

Milan, Italy: An Annual Meeting to Remember

Rhonda F. Walcarius, B.Sc. (MRT)(R)(MR)
2014 Chair, Program Committee

"The 23rd SMRT Annual Meeting would not have been a success without the wonderful support of our corporate sponsors.”

I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the 2014 SMRT program committee, to thank everyone who was able to come to the 23rd SMRT Annual Meeting in Milan, Italy. I hope that you enjoyed the speakers’ presentations and that you may be able to use what you have learned in your current practice.

In total, there were 326 people registered for this meeting. Below is an itemization of the 30 countries from which our registrants traveled to attend this meeting.
Australia 34   Germany 13   Poland 1   Switzerland 4
Austria  1   Israel  6   Russia  1   Thailand 2
Brazil  2   Italy 7   South Korea 5   The Netherlands 24
Canada 19   Japan 19   Saudi Arabia 2   United Kingdom 18
China 7   Lebanon  1   Scotland 3   USA 65
Denmark 23   Lithuania 2   Singapore 9      
Finland 5   New Zealand 10   Slovenia 2      
France 1   Norway  21   Sweden 19      
 
The 23rd SMRT Annual Meeting would not have been a success without the wonderful support of our corporate sponsors. Thank you so much for your generous donations.

SMRT DIAMOND SUPPORTERS

GE Healthcare

Philips Healthcare

Siemens

 

SMRT SAPPHIRE SUPPORTERS

Bracco

Toshiba America Medical Systems

 

SMRT RUBY SUPPORTERS

University of Queensland

 

SMRT PEARL SUPPORTERS

Medtronic, Inc.


 SMRT FRIEND SUPPORTERS

Institute for Magnetic Resonance Safety, Education, and Research
Frank G. Shellock, Ph.D. www.MRISafety.com
 
 
And a very special Thank You to the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Research & Education Fund for its Support of our SMRT Proffered Paper and Poster Award Stipend Recipients.
 
For those who were unable to attend, please check out future video home studies as the talks given were really high quality and should be helpful to your MR practice.
 
Invited Speakers to the 23rd SMRT Annual Meeting in 2014 :
Maureen Ainslie, M.S., R.T. (R)(MR), FSMRT Talissa Altes, M.D. Priti Balchandani, Ph.D.
     
Mustafa Bashir, M.D. Christian Beaulieu, Ph.D. John A. Carrino, M.D., M.P.H.
     
Janice Fairhurst, B.S., R.T. (R)(MR) William Faulkner, B.S., R.T. (R)(MR)(CT), FSMRT Anthony Faranesh, Ph.D. & Jonathan Mazal, M.S, R.R.A., R.T. (R)(MR)
     
Kristan Harrington, M.B.A., R.T. (R)(MR) Stephen Keevil, Ph.D. Michaela Martin - Siemens
     
Michael Moseley, Ph.D. Patrick Quarterman - GE Healthcare Harald H. Quick, Ph.D
     
Nina U. Salman, BSc. (Hons) Celestine Santosh, MBBS, M.D., F.R.C.R. Daniel K. Sodickson, M.D., Ph.D.
     
Michael Steckner, Ph.D. Clare Tempany-Afdhal, M.D. Kemal Tuncali, M.D.
     
 
Marius van Meel - Philips Healthcare Robert E. Watson, M.D., Ph.D.  
     
Attendees listen to the presentation Attendees pay attention to the speaker
 
To give everyone a review of the speakers and their presentations:
Michael Mosley Ph.D. rocked the house with his presentation of Innovations in Neuro Imaging. Hopefully some of the innovations he presented will make it to mainstream practice soon. Dr. John A. Carrino, M.D., M.P.H. followed with a presentation on MR Neurography. From anatomy/pathology to imaging, it was a great presentation for all MR technologists.
   
Dr. Celestine Santosh, MBBS, M.D., F.R.C.R gave a unique talk on stroke. He discussed the use of perflourocarbons and oxygen in imaging to enhance the penumbra in acute ischemic stroke. Dr. Christian Beaulieu, Ph.D. followed with a talk on DTI. This talk was enjoyed by those technologists who currently use DTI in practice as well as those who don’t.
   
Mr. van Meel gave the first of three diamond sponsored presentations. He presented on Philips Healthcare’s mDixon TSE – Integrating into your Clinical Mainstream. Dr. Daniel K. Sodickson, M.D., Ph.D. explained fast and super-fast imaging. It’s such a privilege to hear a talk from the person who changed the speed of MR scanning with parallel imaging.
   
Maureen Ainslie, M.S., R.T. (R)(MR), FSMRT gave us all a technologists perspective of lung imaging in MR. Dr. Talissa Altes, M.D. followed Maureen’s talk with an interesting presentation on hyperpolarized MR lung imaging.
   
William Faulkner, B.S., R.T. (R)(MR)(CT), FSMRT, provided a presentation packed with useful information for MR technologists to take back to their work places. Michaela Martin gave our second diamond sponsored talk from Siemens titled, “Chronically Consistent Results – The New MRI Exam Software DotGO”.
   
Saturday’s program ended with a game show hosted by Nina U. Salman, BSc. (Hons) on MR Artifacts: Who wants to be a MRillionaire? Winners of Who wants to be a MRillionaire?: Left to right Duccio Guerrieri, Svein Are Vatnehol, Eddie Ng’Andew, Pieter Sizoo
   
 
Runners up of Who wants to be a MRillionaire?: Left to right Charles Stanley, Claire Mulcahy, Sony Boiteaux, Wong Weng Hang  
   
Jonathan Mazal, M.S, R.R.A., R.T. (R)(MR) and Dr. Anthony Faranesh, Ph.D. started Sunday’s presentations off with great talks from both a technologist's and a doctor's perspective on MR. Janice Fairhurst, B.S., R.T. (R)(MR) followed with a technologist’s insights into neuro interventional MR imaging.
   
Dr. Kemal Tuncali, M.D. gave an interesting talk on minimally invasive interventional MR. Dr. Harald H. Quick, Ph.D. offered the audience an introduction to PET/MR.
   
Patrick Quarterman gave the third and final diamond sponsor presentation from GE Healthcare titiled titled, “FOCUS: Reduced FOV, High Resolution Diffusion Imaging”. Dr. Priti Balchandani, Ph.D. presented on imaging at 7T. As not many technologists work on a 7T, this was a very informative talk.
   
Dr. Clare Tempany-Afdhal, M.D. contributed a wonderful talk on the very hot topic of MR prostate imaging. Dr. Mustafa Bashir, M.D. explained liver/fat quantification using MR.
   
Kristan Harrington, M.B.A., R.T. (R)(MR) described a process for evaluating an implant’s safety information. Dr. Robert E. Watson, M.D., Ph.D. delivered a fantastic talk on MR safety showing many examples of what can happen if you are not careful.
   
Vera Kimbrell, B.S., R.T.(R)(MR) and Dr. Michael Steckner, Ph.D., M.B.A. provided an update on FPO: B. The last talk of the meeting was given by Dr. Stephen Keevil, Ph.D. He presented an update on the European Union EMF directive.
   
 
Raschel Van Luijk Snoeks moderates a session.  
 
I would also like to thank the moderators for giving their time during the meeting to introduce our wonderful speakers: Vera Kimbrell, Raschel van Luijk-Snoeks, Sheryl Foster, Amanda Hunt, James Stuppino, Scott Dunn, Kendra Huber, Vanessa Orchard and Michael Schlenk. A special thank you to Kendra Huber for her help in organizing the AV crew at the meeting; the policy board members who volunteered for evaluation handout and collection; and to Jennifer Olson, Kerry Crockett, Linda O-Brown, Jacob Coverstone and Sandra Daudlin from the SMRT office for all their amazing help putting this meeting together.
 


Program Chair Rhonda Walcarius assists during the prize give away of safety books.
 
I hope to see you all in Toronto next year.