CMIC Seminar: Ultra-High Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Cartilage

Speaker: Neal Bangerter, Brigham Young University
UCL Contact: Dominique Drai (Visitors from outside UCL please email in advance).
Date/Time: 01 Mar 17, 13:00 - 14:00
Venue: Roberts 106

Abstract

Assessment of the cartilage degeneration associated with osteoarthritis often focuses on cartilage morphology, identifying changes in cartilage volume and thickness at a point when much of the damage is irreversible. Treatment options are thus often limited to managing pain and eventual surgical replacement. However, the emergence of potentially disease-modifying drugs that may slow or even reverse the course of early cartilage degeneration has prompted an interest in imaging-based tools that can detect these early subtle changes in cartilage physiology.

In this talk, I will review several novel MRI techniques that are sensitive to the early biochemical changes in the extracellular matrix of cartilage, with a particular focus on implementations at ultra-high (7 Tesla) main polarizing field strengths. These techniques include ultra-short echo time relaxometry, dGEMRIC, T1-rho, chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST), and sodium MRI. In addition, I will present some novel work in rapid high-resolution 3D morphological imaging of cartilage at ultra-high field strengths.

Neal Bangerter

Professor Bangerter received a Bachelor's degree in Physics from U.C. Berkeley, and received Master's and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University. His doctoral studies were conducted under the supervision of Dr. Dwight Nishimura and Dr. John Pauly, both pioneers in pulse sequence development and signal processing in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). Professor Bangerter joined the faculty in Electrical & Computer Engineering at Brigham Young University in 2008, and holds an adjunct appointment in the Department of Radiology at the University of Utah. He also co-directs the new BYU Magnetic Resonance Imaging Research Facility. His research focuses largely on the development and optimization of new MR imaging techniques at high and ultra-high main polarizing field strengths (3 and 7 Tesla) to a variety of applications, with a recent focus on musculoskeletal applications and the in vivo assessment of cartilage health.