Weekend Course: Standardized and quantitative assessment in body imaging
Title: Liver: Fat Quantification
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 30-min talk should provide details about today’s possibilities in liver fat quantification. Currently available acquisition techniques, evaluation and quantification tools as well as accuracy should be described. After the talk, the audience should be able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of available methods to perform fat quantification on standard MRI systems. In addition, new developments, clinical applications, and current research areas should be mentioned, especially if applicable in a clinical environment. The audience should be able to appreciate the current developments in the field and their possible future applicability in clinical imaging.

Weekend Course: Standardized and quantitative assessment in body imaging
Title: Liver: Iron Quantification
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 30-min talk should provide details about today’s possibilities in liver iron quantification. Currently available acquisition techniques, evaluation and quantification tools as well as accuracy should be described. After the talk, the audience should be able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of available methods to perform iron quantification on standard MRI systems, and discuss semi-quantitative versus fully quantitative methods and the relative advantages and drawbacks of each. In addition, new developments, clinical applications, and current research areas should be mentioned, especially if applicable in a clinical environment. The audience should be able to appreciate the current developments in the field and their possible future applicability in clinical imaging.

Weekend Course: Standardized and quantitative assessment in body imaging
Title: Liver: Fibrosis Quantification
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 30-min talk should provide details about today’s possibilities in liver fibrosis quantification. Currently available acquisition techniques, evaluation and quantification tools as well as accuracy should be described, including elastography, diffusion, and texture feature methods, comparing them with clinical metrics such as shear wave elastography. After the talk, the audience should be able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of available methods to perform fibrosis quantification on standard MRI systems. In addition, new developments, clinical applications, and current research areas should be mentioned, especially if applicable in a clinical environment. The audience should be able to appreciate the current developments in the field and their possible future applicability in clinical imaging.

Weekday Course: Real-time cardiac MRI
Title: Technical Overview of Real-time Cardiac MRI: Acquisition
Type: Online Presentation

This 20 minute talk will be the first in an educational session about real-time Cardiac MRI. The session will consist of six talks and will aim to provide a broad overview of real-time cardiac MR imaging, including the technology aspects for acquisition, reconstruction and visualization, together with clinical applications (general, paediatric and interventional), and future directions. This talk should focus on acquisition strategies which can enable real-time Cardiac MRI, as well as the associated challenges and trade-offs (e.g. spatial and temporal resolution, SNR, latency, post-processing), and how these may be application dependent.

Weekday Course: Imaging of heart failure
Title: What is Heart Failure? Overview of Pathophysiology and Epidemiology
Type: Online Presentation

This 25 minute talk will be the first in a series of four talks, covering the current role of imaging (and MRI in particular) in diagnosis and management of Heart Failure (HF), key clinical trials, and future outlook for the role of advanced MRI in improving understanding, stratification and treatment of HF. This talk should introduce the definition of HF and present a summary of HF pathophysiology and epidemiology, with emphasis on gaps in existing knowledge about HF aetiology. The talk should also highlight open questions that, if answered, could bring about a significant improvement in clinical management of HF.

Weekend Course: Vascular pathology & imaging
Title: Vessel Wall Imaging: Intracranial
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 25 minute talk will introduce the technical aspects of MR vessel wall imaging of the intracranial arteries – including the latest state-of-the-art sequences – and how this technique can be used for detection and characterization of intracranial arterial vasculopathies. The talk should cover not only research applications of intracranial vessel wall MRI, but also describe current clinical indications. This talk will be the third in a series of three talks on vessel wall MRI, covering imaging of the extracranial, coronary and intracranial arterial vessel wall.

Weekend Course: Imaging Degradation and Inflammation
Title: Non-Ischemic Cardiomyopathies
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 25-min talk is one lecture in a weekend course on “Imaging Degradation and Inflammation” covering applications in various organ systems. The objective of this lecture is to highlight evolving roles of Cardiac MR (CMR) in the diagnosis and follow-up of non-ischemic cardiomyopathies (CM). CM can be primary or secondary, and secondary CMs have multiorgan involvement. The end result is mechanical or electrical dysfunction that can result in abnormal ventricular hypertrophy and dilatation. CMR can differentiate different types of non-ischemic cardiomyopathy by characterizing myocardial tissue and identifying and quantifying myocardial edema, iron deposition, and fibrosis.

Weekend Course: Imaging Degradation and Inflammation
Title: Spondyloarthropathy
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 25-min talk is one lecture in a weekend course on “Imaging Degradation and Inflammation” covering applications in various organ systems. The objective of this lecture is to discuss the role of MRI in the diagnosis and follow-up of spondyloarthropathy patients. Spondyloarthropathy refers to disorders linked by common genetic, laboratory, and clinical features with the most important association being with human leukocyte antigen HLA-B 27. Ankylosing spondylitis is a common spondyloarthropathy with involvement of axial skeleton and sacroiliac joints. Features include elevated inflammatory markers like C-reactive protein, response to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), and MR imaging to detect inflammation and monitor disease progression.

Weekend Course: Neurodegeneration and Movement Disorders
Title: Emerging Imaging Techniques in Movement Disorders
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 30-minute talk will highlight emerging imaging techniques in the evaluation of complex movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease. Structural, functional and/or spectroscopic biomarkers for assessing the structural integrity and metabolism of gray and white matter in functional movement disorders will be considered. Emerging concepts in imaging of movement disorders, including multimodal approaches, will be highlighted, and the role of emerging imaging biomarkers in advancing the diagnosis and assessment of disease progression and prognosis will be discussed.

Weekend Course: Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Title: Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Genetics and Neurophysiology
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 30-min lecture in a weekend course on ‘Neurodevelopmental Disorders’ will provide first a description and then a detailed information on genetics and neurophysiology of neurodevelopmental disorders. This lecture will introduce the participants to the course and will show how MR imaging can enlighten underlying structural and functional abnormalities occurring in these disorders.

Sunrise Session: MRF and Synthetic MR: What is it all about & When can I start using it clinically?
Title: MRF and Synthetic MRI: How does it work?
Type: Online Presentation

The 30-minute talk will describe the physical and technical aspects of advanced methods for image synthesization, such as Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting (MRF) and Synthetic MR. Similarities and differences of the various approaches will be reviewed, as will the limitations and challenges of the implementations. The talk will also cover the future direction of synthetic techniques.

Weekend Course: Machine Learning: Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask
Title: How to Read/Write Machine Learning Papers in MRI
Type: On-Site Lecture

Machine learning (ML) is a rapidly developing field with numerous applications in MR image acquisition, reconstruction and analysis with a large of ML papers are published nearly every week. This 25-minute talk should aim to provide the audience with practical guidance on how to critically read ML papers. In addition, the talk should also provide guidance for how to address the "reproducibility crisis”, i.e. by providing guidelines for writing ML papers with reproducible results.

Weekend Course: Image reconstruction
Title: Parallel Imaging
Type: Online Presentation

This 30-min lecture is the first of six talks in the "Image Reconstruction" Weekend Educational Session, and will explain the principles of spatial encoding by means of spatially varying coils sensitivities and give an overview of available parallel imaging techniques. Popular approaches for image space and k-space parallel imaging reconstruction will be explained including SENSE, GRAPPA, as E-SPIRiT, which makes the connection between image-space and k-space reconstruction approaches. Different approaches for coil sensitivity/kernel estimation will be discussed (external or auto-calibration, regularization approaches, parameter selection), as well as different techniques for coil combination and coil compression.

Weekend Course: Image reconstruction
Title: Reconstruction of Non-Cartesian Data
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 30-minute presentation will review the challenges of non-Cartesian k-space sampling and the images reconstruction strategies to mitigate potential artifacts. Non-Cartesian k-space sampling is increasingly due to its high efficiency in k-space traversal, robustness against motion, reduced acoustic noise, and/or the ability to achieve ultra-short TE for visualizing tissues with short T2's or detecting non-proton signals. A number of challenges, however, are present when working with non-Cartesian data that can lead to reduced image quality and image artifacts. Potential data inconsistencies can be especially challenging in iterative reconstruction approaches, requiring special treatment of the data to maintain good image quality.

Weekend Course: Perfusion MRI
Title: ASL: Acquisition and Analysis in the Brain
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 22-minute lecture is one of eight talks in the “Perfusion MRI” Weekend Educational Session. The speaker should be an expert on neuro-ASL physics. The lecture could begin with a brief overview of the physics of ASL and the neurological indications for which it offers an advantage over DCE-MRI. Following this should be a tutorial of the acquisition and analysis methods most commonly used today, and the most recent advances that attempt to overcome limitations in sensitivity and accuracy. The talk may conclude with future outlook and an unbiased comparison between ASL and contrast-enhanced methods in the clinic.

Weekend Course: 30 Years of Functional MRI
Title: Non-BOLD: Imaging Blood Volume and Perfusion
Type: On-Site Lecture

This lecture is one of nine talks in the “30 Years of Functional MRI” Weekend Educational Session. The speaker should be an expert on non-BOLD functional MRI methods, specifically with expertise in quantitative measurement of neurovascular blood volume and flow, e.g VASO, ASL and related methods. The lecture might include a rationale for why non-BOLD methods may offer some advantages with respect to quantitation and specificity, descriptions of the basic methods, limitations with respect to SNR and temporal resolution, and practical considerations for implementation.

Weekday Course: Contrast mechanisms in breast imaging
Title: Diffusion-Weighted Imaging in Breast
Type: Online Presentation

This 25-minute lecture is one of four talks in the “Standing Out: Contrast Mechanisms in Breast Imaging” Weekday Educational Session. The speaker should be an expert on diffusion-weighted and quantitative diffusion imaging in the breast. The lecture could begin with a brief overview of what tissue properties diffusion MRI is sensitized to and how diffusion MRI has been applied to clinical breast imaging to date. The lecture should also clearly distinguish what breast pathophysiology can and cannot be assessed. For continuity within the session, the complementary role that diffusion MRI may play in the future should be outlined.

Weekday Course: Diffusion tractography
Title: Deterministic Tractography
Type: Online Presentation

This lecture is one of four talks in the “Diffusion Tractography” Weekday Educational Session. The speaker should be an expert on deterministic tractography methods, such as Runge-Kutta method, fiber assignment by continuous tracking (FACT), tensor line and interpolated streamline algorithms. The lecture might include a description of the basic methods of deterministic tractography, their strengths, limitations, and practical considerations for implementation.

Weekend Course: RF Coils for Fun and Profit
Title: Preamplifier Decoupling: Theory and Practice
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 30-minute lecture should begin with an explanation of the need for amplification of the MR signal. The lecture should explain what the noise figure is and what amplifier parameters affect the noise figure. The preamplifier input impedance has to be described, and the method of using this impedance for the decoupling has to be given. The demonstration of the effect of the preamplifier with a measurement set-up would be ideal.

Weekend Course: Pushing the Limit with Emerging Gradient & Non-Linear Encoding Hardware
Title: Dealing with System Imperfections
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 30-minute lecture is one of six talks in the “Pushing the limit with emerging gradient & non-linear encoding hardware” Weekend Educational Session. The speaker should be an expert on characterization and calibration of system imperfections, e.g. from system delays, trajectory errors, or eddy currents. The lecture could begin with common system imperfections and how they affect imaging, and then describe how to measure (using field probes or MRI-based measurements) and characterize them (e.g. using the gradient impulse response). The lecture could end with the description of techniques that correct for these errors either during the acquisition or reconstruction phase.

Weekday Course: MR Physics for Clinicians: Hardware, Fields and Contrast Agents
Title: MR System Components and Safety Implications
Type: Online Presentation

This 35-minute lecture is one of a series of talks in the “MR Physics for Clinicians” Weekday Educational Session. This session should provide a basic and comprehensive review of MRI physics and techniques. The presentation should be non-mathematical and suitable for clinicians and physicists new to the field. The goal of this particular lecture is to describe the basic hardware components of an MRI scanner, their function, and how the safety of patients and personnel can be ensured in consideration of electromagnetic fields, cryogens, and acoustic noise. Interactions with implanted devices should also be discussed.

Weekend Course: Engineering for MRI-guided Interventions
Title: MRI-Guided Robotic Prostate Biopsy
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 20-minute educational talk should provide a description of MRI-guided robotic prostate biopsy. In particular, it should cover the robotic hardware, MRI hardware, and MRI imaging methods, as well as the procedural workflow. This talk is aimed at a physics and engineering audience.

Weekend Course: Career Development & Public Engagement
Title: Communicating Specific Findings
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 20 minute lecture is the 3rd talk of five in a session on Public Engagement. One important aspect of public engagement is the communication and dissemination of specific research findings. This talk should discuss why this is a valuable and important practice, and outline some effective strategies for doing so, e.g. blogging, social media, making an informative video and media interviews.

Weekend Course: Career Development & Public Engagement
Title: Public and Patient Involvement
Type: On-Site Lecture

This 20 minute lecture is the 5th talk of five in a session on Public Engagement. One specific area relating to public engagement is public and patient involvement (PPI), which is important for providing input into research directions, and also increasingly becoming a requirement for grant and funding applications. This talk should discuss the role of PPI in imaging research, and provide some guidance on how to integrate PPI into a research proposal or ongoing project.

Sunrise Session: Frontiers in Musculoskeletal MRI
Title: DWI and Spectroscopy
Type: Online Presentation

This 25-min review lecture is the first of two lectures in a sunrise session on frontiers in MSK MRI. The talk will highlight cutting-edge diffusion-weighted imaging and MR spectroscopy techniques for the MRI characterization of MSK diseases and disorders, specifically illustrating the technical background and the how-to of applying DWI and spectroscopy techniques in research experiments and patient care. As a result of attending this course, participants should be able to a) describe the roles of diffusion-weighted imaging and MR spectroscopy for diagnosis and treatment monitoring of musculoskeletal disorders, b) implement state-of-the-art diffusion-weighted imaging and MR spectroscopy techniques for comprehensive semi-quantitative and qualitative MRI evaluation of musculoskeletal conditions, and c) apply the spectrum of diffusion-weighted and MR spectroscopy techniques to complement clinical MRI protocols for augmented diagnosis of musculoskeletal diseases and conditions.

Sunrise Session: Frontiers in Musculoskeletal MRI
Title: Perfusion and Contrast Kinetics
Type: Online Presentation

This 25-min review lecture is the second of two lectures in a sunrise session on frontiers in MSK MRI. The talk will highlight cutting-edge perfusion and contrast kinetics techniques for the MRI characterization of MSK diseases and disorders, specifically illustrating the technical background and the how-to of applying perfusion and contrast kinetics techniques in research experiments and patient care. As a result of attending this course, participants should be able to a) describe the roles, potential, and possibilities of perfusion and contrast kinetics techniques for diagnosis and treatment monitoring of musculoskeletal disorders, b) implement state-of-the-art perfusion and contrast kinetics techniques for comprehensive semi-quantitative and qualitative MRI evaluation of musculoskeletal conditions, and c) apply the spectrum of perfusion and contrast kinetics techniques to complement clinical MRI protocols and advanced diagnosis of musculoskeletal diseases and conditions.