Connecting brain science & business

At MI Lab Day, the 10th November-11, technological progress and new ways to use the technology in MRI and ultrasound were some of the topics.

Organized for the seventh time in four years, MI Lab-day is now a well-established event for imaging and innovation research groups in Trondheim. MI Lab’s vision  is to facilitate cost efficient health care to improve patient outcome through innovation in medical imaging, and MI Lab is working together with NTNU, the university hospital, SINTEF and many other partners from the industry.

Social network day

- This event is a meeting point for people working with MRI, ultrasound and image-guided surgery. It’s important for these people to meet and talk together, Olav Haraldseth, head of MI Lab at the Faculty of Medicine, NTNU, says.

At MI Lab Day, representatives from industry and researchers from NTNU and St. Olav’s Hospital meet for an update on what’s going on in the field. In addition to ordinary presentations, six PhD candidates and researchers presented their work in the form of Speed Updates. Based on the idea of speed dating, the audience is divided into groups, rotating between different stations, where they are given quick insights into advances in different MI Lab research projects.

Professor Kevin Brindle from the University of Cambridge, UK, presented in a keynote speech the possibilities of applying novel MR-based molecular imaging techniques and metabolomics for the detection and prediction of responses to tumor therapy. He also addressed the challenges and potential of bringing this technology into the
clinic.

New possibilities with new technology 

Scientific equipment and research infrastructure are crucial factors in MRI and ultrasound research. Trondheim has a history of leading the way in MR-technology in Norway. Both the first clinical MR scanner in the country and the first 3 Tesla MR scanner were installed here.

Today clinical MRI studies in Trondheim utilise a 3 Tesla MR scanner, but MR-physicist Pål Erik Goa hopes funding will be provided for a 7 Tesla scanner for clinical research in 2014. Last year,Goa had a 6 month research stay at Erwin L. Hahn Institute in Essen, Germany, to learn more about clinical MR Imaging at 7 Tesla.

- A 7 Tesla MR scanner will open new possibilities in diagnostic imaging and research, in the same way 3 Tesla has already done compared to lower field strengths. In particular, we will be able to study the structure and function of the brain with higher resolution and better accuracy than before, Goa underlines.

Higher magnetic field also means new technical challenges. Goa continues:

- The history of MR technology development has shown us that these challenges will be met, with new technology and new possibilities as the end result. Trondheim has an ambition to be part of this development, both on the technical and on the application side. This is why we have already started to build competence and networks related to clinical 7 Tesla.

A good year for MI Lab

Research in medical ultrasound in Trondheim started over 30 years ago, with the development of ultrasound Doppler blood flow equipment and applications of the technology in non-invasive diagnosis of cardiac function and cardiac valve disease.

- The last year MI Lab received very good evaluations from international expert panels, Haraldseth says.

In 2009 the main success story for MI Lab was the new pocket-size ultrasound scanner, Vscan, from GE Vingmed Ultrasound. Both in the speed update by Ole C. Mjølstad and the plenary lecture by Bjørn Olav Haugen, this Vscan and ongoing research projects to evaluate how this handheld ultrasound scanner can enable new clinical applications of ultrasound in health care was a topic.

For more photos from the event please click here

Thank you to Hanne Strypet, Faculty of Medicine, NTNU for the article and the photos

| More...