Research Project
3506679
The research proposed in this application will contribute to the further development of a whole-body magnetic resonance (MR) imaging system, capable of acquiring complete tomographic proton images in 1/25th of a second. Specifically extensions and variants of the present Instant Scan pulse sequence will be developed, with the goal of providing the physician with a variety of options with respect to imaging speed, signal-to-noise ratio, spatial resolution, and number of "simultaneous" slices, such that the scan may be optimised for a given examination. The Instant Scan method and the proposed variants will undergo clinical trials on normal volunteers and selected patients, to help assess their potential clinical utility. Although now accepted as an extremely valuable diagnostic technique, MR is limited in its application to organs which move involuntarily. This is a direct result of the long scan times typically required. The Instant Scan method, because of its "snapshot" imaging capability, eliminates this problem. The proposed variants of the Instant Scan method will help ensure that optimum image quality is obtained when static organ systems are scanned. Further development of this second generation MRI system will therefore open new avenues of clinical investigation and commercial opportunity.
