2024 ISMRT President’s Challenge

Presentation 1:

Neuroimaging Cannabis Effects on the Brain with an Emphasis on Vulnerable Populations
Scott Mackey, Ph.D.

Presentation 2:

Fast Imaging Techniques for Brain Imaging
Stefan Skare, Ph.D.

Course Organiser:

Brandy J. Reed, M.B.A., R.T.(R)(MR), ISMRT President-Elect 2023-24

Course Summary:

Brandy has selected two presentations to highlight aspects of MR imaging of the brain. These talks were chosen with the goal of providing education to MRI Radiographers, Technologists, Clinicians and Scientists who are currently or soon to be working in an MRI facility.

Dr. Scott Mackey, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Vermont. He specializes in researching maladaptive decision-making in substance use disorders, particularly addiction. In this presentation, he will focus on summarizing neuroimaging findings related to acute and chronic cannabis use.

Following this first talk, attendees should be able to summarize neuroimaging findings on acute and chronic cannabis use; discuss new evidence on the effects of cannabis in vulnerable populations and understand methodological challenges; and future directions in neuroimaging cannabis use.

Dr. Stefan Skare is an Adjunct Professor of Magnetic Resonance and MR physicist at Karolinska University Hospital. His focus is particularly geared towards addressing new techniques for rapid brain MRI, for patients who are unable to keep their head still.

Following Dr. Skare's talk, attendees will gain an understanding of four categories/classes of methods for faster brain MRI; the assumptions behind and limitations of each category; and learn about a few specific techniques in each category and their limitations.

Presentation 1:

MR-Guided Radiotherapy: MR in Oncology I
Glenn D. Cahoon, MSc., FSMRT

Presentation 2:

PET/MRI Applications in Musculoskeletal Cancer Imaging
Garry Gold, M.D. & Ali Syed, M.D.

Course Organiser:

Haidee J. Paterson, N.D.Rad., MRSO, ISMRT Online Learning Committee Chair 2023-2024

Course Summary:

These two presentations were chosen with the goal of providing education to MRI radiographers, technologists, clinicians, scientists, nurses, and radiation therapists who are currently or soon to be working in an MRI and/or MRI oncology facility. These courses are also for anyone who has a specific interest in MRI oncology or PET/MRI.

Following this session, participants will be able to describe tumor heterogeneity in ovarian and kidney cancers, explain the use of DWI and DCE in chemotherapy response assessment, and describe the clinical advantages of the MRI-Linac technique in radiation therapy. Participants will also grasp the essentials of an MSK cancer-focused PET/MR protocol. They will also recognize the role of PET/MR in diagnosing and assessing responses in multiple myeloma, as well as explain its benefits for staging sarcoma.

Presentation 1:

Learning To Love MRI of the Upper Limb
Kylie J. Walters, M.H.Sc., B.Appl.Sc.(MRS)(MRI)

Presentation 2:

MSK Tips
Megan S. Cromer, Ph.D.(Hons)

Course Organiser:

Sonja K. Boiteaux, M.Sc., R.T.(R)(MR), MRSO, MCHC, ISMRT Past President 2023-24

Course Summary:

This session will demonstrate practical applications of MSK MRI. Following these talks, attendees will be able to demonstrate useful positioning techniques to aid in imaging the upper limb, optimize protocols in challenging patient demographics, and explain sequence optimization of MRI in the upper limb. Attendees will also be introduced to several important topics to assist in successful MSK imaging, including the basics of scanning and obtaining patient history, tailoring the MSK examination in terms of resolution, and fat suppression selection. The presentation of a case study will highlight the application of the presented tips in clinical practice.

Presentation 1:

A Brief History of Pulse Sequences
Martin J. Graves, Ph.D.

Presentation 2:

Refresher of MR Image Formation
Donald W. McRobbie, Ph.D.

Course Organiser:

Glenn D. Cahoon, MSc., FSMRT, ISMRT President 2023-24

Course Summary:

These two presentations were chosen with the goal of providing education to MRI radiographers, technologists, clinicians, scientists, nurses, and radiation therapists who are currently or soon to be working in an MRI facility or have an interest in MRI. The courses selected also serve as either a starting point for those interested in the field of MRI or a refresher for those who have been working in the field for some time.

Following this course, participants will be able to outline the historical basis of magnetic resonance imaging and explain the role scanner hardware, gradients, and RF play in image formation. Participants will be able to relate historical developments to modern imaging techniques and acquire the conceptual tools necessary to understand advanced image reconstruction techniques.

Presentation 1:

MR Safety Physics: In-House MR Safety Testing
Marius O. Mada, Ph.D.(MR)(R)

Presentation 2:

Preventing MRI Accidents: Best Practice Recommendations To Minimize Risk
Alan D. Heffron, R.T.(R)(CT)(MR)CRA, MRSO(MRSC)

Course Organiser:

Christine Mancini, R.T.(R)(MR), ISMRT Online Learning Committee Member

Course Summary:

These two presentations offer a different perspective of MRI safety training for MRI technologist/radiographers, nurses, scientists, and clinicians.

At the end of this session, attendees will be able to explain the rationale for MRI safety testing in research environment, the requirements of an MRI safety testing facility, and the limitations of MRI testing, as well as the role of technologists/radiographers in improving the relevance of safety testing. They will also be able to describe which accident types can occur in MRI, the concept of risk and how to manage and reduce it, and how tools like ferromagnetic detection systems can be used to mitigate risk.

Presentation 1:

Focal Liver Lesions in the Non-Cirrhotic & Cirrhotic Liver (2021)
Alison Harris, MBChB, MRCP, FRCR, FRCPC, FSAR

Presentation 2:

MRI for Visualization & Characterization of Bladder Cancer (2021)
Huyen T. Nguyen, Ph.D.

Course Organiser:

Amanda Cole, MSRS, RT(R)(MR), ISMRT Online Learning Committee Member

Course Summary:

These two presentations were selected with the goal of enhancing the knowledge of body and soft-tissue pelvis imaging for MRI technologists, radiographers, and clinicians.

At the end of this session, learners should be able to describe the value of MRI in finding focal liver lesions in non-cirrhotic and cirrhotic liver and identify optimal parameters for diffusion imaging of the body. They should also be able to describe bladder cancer and the roles of MRI in bladder cancer imaging. Additionally, they should be able to describe the assessment of heterogeneity in bladder cancer MRI and explain how parametric MRI can quantitatively assess bladder cancer.

Presentation 1:

fMRI: From Acquisition to Analysis
Stefan Sunaert, M.D., Ph.D.

Presentation 2:

Approaches to Attenuation Correction in PET MRI
John J. Totman, Ph.D.,R.T.(R)

Course Organiser:

Debra Patterson, M.Sc., R.T.(R)(MR)(CT), ISMRT Online Learning Committee Member

Course Summary:

These two presentations will highlight aspects of MR imaging which may not be performed universally. Both presentations introduce MRI radiographers/technologists, nuclear medicine technologists, and imaging researchers to specific applications and approaches used in fMRI and PET/MRI.

At the end of this session, learners will be able to describe the origin of the BOLD fMRI signal and the basic concepts underlying fMRI acquisition; stress the importance of adequate fMRI setup, paradigm design and patient training/preparation; describe the essential post-processing steps and statistical analysis of fMRI data; and explain some of the limitations and future directions of fMRI.

Learners will also be able to describe PET, its impact, and the role of attenuation correction and describe the various MRI methodologies employed and developed to attempt MRI-based attenuation correction of PET data.