MR Spectroscopy in Clinical Practice
Alberto Bizzi, Petra Huppi, Organizers

Saturday, 6 May, 08:30 - 18:00
 

Overview:
This one-day course is a new edition of the successful 2005 course. It will briefly review the basics of MRS, then illustrate in depth the basics of MRS data acquisition, post-processing, biochemical interpretation and quality assurance. Options and strategies for semiquantitative and absolute quantitation will be discussed. The potential of 31P and 13C MRS will be illustrated. The main clinical applications of H-MRS will be reviewed by clinicians and MR spectroscopists who routinely apply MRS in the work-up of patients.

Educational Objectives:
Upon completion of this course, participants should be able to:
• Describe the rationale of performing clinical MR spectroscopy;
• Explain the fundamental steps involved in performing and evaluating an MRS examination;
• Describe quantitative methods and their limitations;
• Recognize artifacts and pitfalls of clinical MRS;
• List diagnostic and patient management situations in which there is a clinically significant justification for a MRS examination;
• Describe recent clinical uses of in vivo MRS in pediatrics, oncology, neurology and psychiatry; and
• Design and implement an appropriate MRS protocol for a clinical or research study.

Audience Description:
This course is designed for students in electrical engineering/biomedical engineering, physics who are interested in learning about MRS applications; scientists who are interested in reviewing the MRS applications and learning the state-of-the-art methodology for clinical applications; and clinicians/MDs who are interested in learning MRS applications and establishing a link between MRS and clinical questions. Anyone wishing to understand clinical applications and related problems will find this course worthwhile; it will be appropriate to both new entrants and current users.