Webinars 2019
ESCR Webinar 01 – Level Advanced
Date: Wednesday, January 16, 2019, at 18:00 CET
Title: “Optimize your cardiac MR: How to avoid common problems/mistakes“
Moderator: Prof. Luigi Natale (Rome/IT)
"Setting up a CMR examination: standard workflow & sequences revisited"
Prof. Francesco Santini, Basel/CH
"How to avoid artifacts and pitfalls"
Prof. Ursula Reiter, Graz/AT
Lecture 1 - details
Description
Cardiac MRI examinations are usually time consuming, requiring a lot of expert intervention from the MR technician to properly plan and execute. While MR manufacturers and individual radiology departments continuously optimize the workflow, there are some aspects that could be potentially overlooked in a clinical setting. This presentation will focus on the following questions:
• Are we scanning the right patients? Proper screening of patients, especially with implanted active devices, is essential in the optimization of the scanning workflow.
• Are we using the right sequences? The most common sequences (bSSFP, STIR) might not be ideal in some cases.
• What does the future hold? Methods that will soon be available to optimize a cardiac MRI scan.
Learning Objectives
• Dealing with implanted active devices
• Alternative acquisition methods for common sequences
• Accelerated cardiac imaging
About the speaker
Dr. Santini studied Electronic Engineering with a specialization in Biomedical Engineering at the Università degli Studi di Firenze (Italy). He then moved to Basel and in 2009 gained a PhD degree in Biophysics (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) in the Radiology Department (University of Basel). He then continued as a postdoctoral fellow and since 2013 Dr. Santini is responsible for MR Safety in the University Hospital in Basel. In 2015 he was among the first people to obtain the title of MR Safety Expert from the American Board of MR Safety, and helped draft the Swiss guidelines for MR Safety endorsed by the Swiss Society of Radiology. His research activities are in the field of dynamic and quantitative MR imaging, applied to the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal systems.
Dr. Santini is the author of more than 40 scientific publications and recipient of various research grants.
Lecture 2 - details
Description
CMR imaging represents the established reference standard method to quantify volumetric function, myocardial mass, shunts and regurgitation volumes, as well as myocardial fibrosis non-invasively. The fast and frequently irregular motion of the heart, however, renders CMR especially prone to imaging artefacts, which might not only lead to limited or undiagnostic image quality but – if not recognized – incorrect image interpretation and/or quantification of assessed parameters. The lecture aims to discuss strategies to identify and avoid CMR imaging artefacts potentially causing pitfalls.
Learning Objectives
• Artefacts and pitfalls in CMR volumetric function and blood flow
• Artefacts and pitfalls in morphological CMR imaging
• Artefacts and pitfalls in relaxation time mapping
About the speaker
Ursula Reiter received her diploma in Physics at the University of Technology Graz in 1993. During her PhD studies in the field of experimental and molecular laser physics she worked as university assistant at the University of Technology Graz. In 1998 he graduated from the University of Technology in Graz with distinction. In 1999 she started to work at the Department of Radiology, Medical University of Graz. Since 2001 her professional and research focus lies on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging and post-processing. She is author and co-author of numerous scientific papers, book contributions, books and patents. Ursula Reiter received her habilitation in Experimental and Theoretical Radiology at the Medical University of Graz in 2017.