"We have been working with Siemens for over 30 years, developing and applying emerging MRI technologies, and we are excited to continue this great partnership," says Mark Griswold, PhD, professor of radiology at Case Western Reserve and program chair at this year's ISMRM. "We are very proud and excited to be the exclusive partner of Case Western Reserve University to further develop MR Fingerprinting," comments Dr. Christoph Zindel, head of the business line Magnetic Resonance at Siemens Healthcare. "The most innovative applications can only be brought to life through the collaborative efforts of industry and research," says Zindel. "The goal of MR Fingerprinting is to specifically identify and characterize individual tissues and diseases," states Griswold. "But to try to get there, we've had to rethink a lot of what we do in MRI."
MRF is an innovative, highly versatile and insightful method of measurement, intended to provide non-invasive, user- and scanner-independent quantification of tissue properties. The MRF method is designed to measure a wide range of parameters simultaneously, quantifying many important tissue properties.
Presently, the evaluation of MR images is generally qualitative. In doing so, the properties of the pathology are determined by observing differences in contrast between tissues, instead of being based on absolute measurements of individual tissue properties. Quantitative approaches exist, involving the measurement of diffusion, fat/iron deposits, perfusion or relaxation times, for example. But these sequences often require significant amounts of scan time, and the results vary depending on the scanner and the user. Given the potential low level of variance across a large number of examinations and its expected reproducibility across scanners and in different institutions, MRF could achieve more accurate monitoring and evaluation of patient treatment.
More information can be found from Siemens website by clicking here.
