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Goals of the Courses
With the Lectures on Magnetic Resonance the ESMRMB
continues to offer new teaching courses that are especially
designed to provide the physical fundamentals of MR imaging,
diffusion, perfusion, spectroscopy and RF engineering, as
well as aspects of applications of these techniques in clinical
and biochemical research and development. The ESMRMB
and its Education and Workshop Committee is convinced
that there is a strong need and request to provide these
kind of courses that are dedicated towards the needs of MR
physicists and other basic scientists working in a clinical or
research environment.
The course on RF coils: design and build your own
provides an overview of the basic theory of designing,
constructing and testing of RF coils for both animal and
human scanners. Introduction into software tools for
simulations of electromagnetic fields and for safety evaluation
will be included. Practical sessions will cover approximately
50% of the course, in which participants will learn to build
surface coils and volume resonators of their particular
interests. Characterisation of RF coils including B1-mapping,
measurement of E and H fields and assessment of parallel
imaging performance will be also part of the course. The
course is designed for basic scientists and engineers but
also invites clinicians, radiographers, applications specialists
and other MR users interested in gaining a better insight into
RF coil technology.
The course will enable you to
• Understand the behaviour of circuit elements
at high frequency
• Understand the concepts of resonance
and resonant circuits
• Design impedance matching networks
• Construct baluns and cable traps
• See the range of test equipment used in RF coil design
• Design and build a surface coil
• Understand the theory of volume resonators
• See the operation of different software packages
for RF simulations
• Understand the different designs for
multiple-frequency RF probes
• Design a birdcage coil
Acquisition strategies for hyperpolarised spin systems
Hyperpolarisation has opened up new applications of
NMR and MRI. Acquisition strategies for hyperpolarised
substances differ substantially from those suitable for
thermally polarised samples due to the non-recoverable
magnetisation. The aim of this three-day course is to
provide the participants knowledge of experimental and
theoretical aspects of polarisation, magnetisation use, pulse
sequence design and RF hardware for in vitro and in vivo
hyperpolarised MR. Different imaging strategies will be
presented with emphasis on the special requirements and
adaptations needed for hyperpolarisation studies. The use of
specialised RF pulses will be covered as well as possibilities
for accelerated acquisitions by means of parallel imaging
and compressed sensing. Quantification and modelling of
data are important aspects of hyperpolarisation studies and
specialised methods will be described as the last part of the
course. An integrated part of the course will be theoretical
exercises where the participant will work in depth and gain
hands-on experience on the topics covered in the lectures.
The course is aimed at post-graduate and post-doctoral MR
scientists interested in learning about acquisition strategies
for NMR and MRI of hyperpolarised spin systems. A basic
background in MR spin physics is assumed.
The course will focus on
• Advantages and limitations of the different
hyperpolarisation methods
• Relevance of different relaxation mechanisms
and their time scale
• Hardware requirements for imaging
of hyperpolarised spins
• Basic imaging sequences for chemical shift imaging
(CSI and EPSI)
• Advantages and limitations of non-cartesian
(radial/spiral) sequences and how to exploit the sparsity
of the spectral dimension
• Advantages and limitations of spin-echo and steadystate
sequences
• Design of specialised RF pulses for spectral-spatial
excitation
• Parallel imaging methods for hyperpolarised molecules
• Compressed sensing and sparse sampling strategies
efficiently
• Quantification of spectral data such as intensity,
integration, frequency and time domain fitting
(jMRUI, LCmodel)
• Modelling of kinetic (temporal) data, explain exchange
reactions and methods of solving the rate equations,
and correct for relaxation and RF excitation
• Biological interpretation of rate constants and other
parameters extracted from in vivo hyperpolarisation data
The course on Create your own echo: how to generate,
calculate and manipulate echoes offers a physically and
mathematically oriented description of basic and non-basic
physical properties of spins exposed to penetrating radio
frequency and gradient fields. Is it possible to generate
a spin echo with two 10-degree RF pulses? What is the
difference between a spoiled gradient echo sequence and a
balanced steady state free precession technique? How can
we calculate amplitude and phase of spin echoes, stimulated
echoes and steady state signals?
Attendance of the course will provide you with a fundamental
knowledge of
• Handling and calculations with the Bloch equations
• Understanding of sampling trajectories in k-space
• Fourier description of magnetisation, the phase-graph
• Counting of echo paths in a multi-pulse experiment
• Behaviour of multiple spin-echo techniques
at low flip angles
• Mathematical description of steady states and their
resulting contrasts
• Application of hyper echoes to gradient echo methods
• Exotic sequences, hyper echoes, TRAPS
The course on Resting state fMRI – basic concepts,
methods & applications focuses on methodology and
applications of this rapidly growing field. After providing an
overview on state-of-the-art analysis strategies and major
applications, including those in clinical populations, special
emphasis will be put on the importance of physiological
and other confounding factors and the impact of different
acquisition strategies. The course will be complemented by
an introduction on current network perspectives on human
brain function and the relationship of task related and ongoing
brain activity.
The lectures will provide you with
• Insights into the sources of correlated resting
state activity
• Knowledge on the most important analysis strategies
• Methods to control physiological noise contributions
• Techniques to quantify local resting state behaviour
• Proficiency to perform network analyses
• Deeper understanding of the meaning of abnormal
resting states
• Practical guidelines for resting state acquisitions
• An overview on critical aspects and limitations
• A perspective on future directions in this field of research
The course on Clinical MR spectroscopy will provide
an overview of the basic theory and clinical applications
of MR spectroscopy, including spectroscopic acquisition
techniques, the quantification of proton MR spectra, as
well as important clinical applications on 1.5T and 3T MR
systems. The course also includes a hands-on part, which
is focused on the practicalities of clinical examinations
and spectroscopic software demonstration. This course is
dedicated to physicians, basic scientists, and technicians
that already have experience in basic MR methods, and
who wish to extend their knowledge on MR spectroscopy
in clinical practice.
The course will enable you to
• Understand the physical and technical basics of
localised MR spectroscopy
• Know the advantages and disadvantages of single voxel
spectroscopy and chemical shift spectroscopic imaging
methods
• Optimise critical acquisition parameters such as
shimming, pulse optimisation, and signal averaging
strategies
• Assess the quality of MR spectra
• Quantify the tissue concentrations of metabolites
• Know the major clinical indications and applications 5
of MR spectroscopy
• Know the advantages and disadvantages of MR
spectroscopy at ultra-high field (3T and higher)
and high field (1.5T)
• Gain practical experience on clinical MR scanners
and in data post-processing
Inverse imaging, sparse sampling, and compressed
sensing are buzzwords which are currently used abundantly
(and often interchangeably) to describe methods for image
formation based on its formulation as an inverse problem. The
course will focus on the introduction of the basic concepts
behind the various algorithms and methods, present and
discuss different approaches to solve the image equation and
give a ‘how to…’ introduction into practical implementations.
The course Inverse imaging, sparse sampling, compressed
sensing and more will cover
• Introduction of basic concepts of treating image
formation as an inverse problem
• Formulation of the forward problem: Non-uniform Fast
Fourier Transformation (NUFFT) and other tricks
• Different approaches for regularisation: basics and
discussion of pros and cons
• Implementation issues, parallel processing and GPUs
• Practical implementations: where to use which approach
The course on Simultaneous multi–slice/multiband
imaging will provide participants with a solid grounding
in one of the most exciting developments of recent years:
The ability to vastly accelerate data acquisition by the
simultaneous acquisition of multiple slices. The course
will cover the basic concepts of simultaneous excitation,
refocusing and inversion for conventional and adiabatic radio
frequency pulses. It will show how the application of these
pulses can be limited by both peak RF-voltage and power
deposition, and describe strategies for circumventing both of
these limitations. The limitations of combined simultaneous
multi-slice imaging and in-plane acceleration will be
presented. The value of incorporating (blipped) CAIPRIHANA
will be explored. Different methods of data reconstruction
will be described, and the implications for the acquisition
of reference data shown. Finally examples of current and
potential future applications will be examined.
The course will focus on
• Basic radiofrequency pulse design
• Strategies for reducing peak voltage
• Strategies for reducing pulse power
• Extensions to adiabatic pulse forms
• Basis of reconstruction methods
• Advanced reconstruction methods
• CAIPRIHANA and blipped CAIPRIHANA technique
• Slice cross-talk
• Practical implementations: Pulse sequence
modifications, acquiring reference data, adjusting B0/B1
and additional sensitivity to motion
• Where is the concrete benefit and why? Examples from
neuroimaging and clinical application
The course on Small animal MR imaging will address basic
technical and practical aspects of MRI with emphasis on
demands for small animal application. Lectures will provide
basic knowledge about MR physics and describe intrinsic
and extrinsic MR contrast mechanisms. The major aspects of
appropriate animal handling, anaesthesia, and of monitoring
and maintaining a stable physiological state during imaging
will be explained. Specifically, sensitivity issues and the
impact of physiological motion will be addressed. Different
strategies to deal with respiratory and heart motion will be
introduced as well as advanced MR techniques with particular
relevance in small animal MR in more detail. The course
will furthermore give an overview of preclinical applications
of MRI and MRS. The molecular imaging modalities, PET
and Optical imaging will also be presented with emphasis
on the synergistic potential of multimodal imaging studies.
Molecular imaging applications will be discussed with a focus
on cell tracking by MRI.
The course will emphasise
• Basic principles of MRI and MRS, contrast mechanisms,
contrast agents, and MR hardware
• Small animal physiology, gating techniques, tissue
processing and preparation
• Introduction of advanced MR methods such as BOLD,
MEMRI, UTE, hyperpolarisation, etc.
• Preclinical applications in cardiovascular MRI, oncology,
and neuroimaging
• Introduction of cell tracking by MRI including cell
labelling, transplantation and the use of reporter genes
• Discussion of possibilities of multimodal imaging by
combination of MRI with other modalities such as PET
and optical imaging
The course Diffusion: what it means and how to measure
it is an in-depth overview of MR measurements of diffusion,
providing a solid background in this rapidly expanding
research field. Fundamental physics of molecular diffusion
serves as a basis for the presentation of main experimental
methods. This course focuses on the question how to use
diffusion MRI for probing microscopic sample structure that
is much finer than the imaging resolution. The course is
designed for basic scientists who already have experience
in MRI and wish to extend their knowledge of the physics of
diffusion-weighted imaging.
Attendance of the course will provide you with a fundamental
knowledge of
• Diffusion measures and their behaviour in heterogeneous
media • Relation between diffusion-weighted signal
and diffusion measures
• Pulse sequences and acquisition strategies
• Practical sequence design and parameter optimisation
• Artefacts: symptoms, mechanisms and remediation
• How tissue microstructure is represented by diffusion
measures
• Strategies of biophysical modelling in diffusion MR
• Available methods for probing microstructure using
diffusion MR
The course Advanced methods for acquisition and analysis
of fMRI data provides an in-depth view on advanced fMRI
acquisition and post-processing. The course is designed for
researchers with basic knowledge in fMRI who want to extend
their methodological background. The first part of the course
will cover methods aiming at optimisation of BOLD-fMRI,
principles on investigation of its neurophysiologic origins and
applications of such tools to study fine-grained structures at
high field strengths. The second part is dedicated to novel
analysis tools including connectivity analyses, multivariate
pattern classifiers, approaches for data mining and metaanalysis
as well as hyperscanning fMRI as a tool in social
neuroscience to study interactions between communicating
brains.
This course will focus on
• Understanding the electrophysiological basis
of the BOLD response
• Learning techniques for optimised EPI to minimise
susceptibility artefacts
• Understanding models that explain the neurovascular
coupling
• Learning methods for high resolution fMRI of cortical
layers and columns
• Identification of perspectives and limitations of fMRI
connectivity analyses
• Application of multivariate pattern analyses and brain
connectivity graphs
• Appreciate the challenge of functional inference and
database driven approaches towards it
• Understanding the neural mechanisms and appropriate
data analysis approaches to investigate multisensory
integration
• Learning about state-of-the-art correlation
and information-based techniques to analyse
data recorded from two interacting brains
The course RF pulses: design and applications is designed
to provide an in-depth insight into the usage of RF pulses
in magnetic resonance imaging methods. Starting from a
basic introduction into the physics of RF pulses and their
interaction with the spin system, the course will cover the
major pulse design and calculation techniques as well as
examples for choosing suitable pulses within common MRI
sequences. A special emphasis will also be put on the design
and applications of so-called multidimensional RF pulses, 7
particularly in combination with the recently introduced
concept of parallel RF transmission.
The course will cover
• Introduction into the physics and technical aspects
of RF pulses
• Calculation of RF pulses in the small-tip-angle
approximation
• Calculation methods for large-tip-angle pulses:
The Shinnar-Le-Roux and the Optimal Control approach
• Which RF pulse to choose for which function in common
MRI sequences
• Special purpose RF pulses
• Overview of B1-mapping methods
• Multidimensional RF pulses: localisation and
modulation of the transverse magnetisation in
more than one dimension
• Parallel excitation/Transmit SENSE: How the world of
multidimensional pulses changes with the introduction
of new degrees of freedom by multiple transmission
channels
The course MRI simulation for sequence development,
protocol optimisation, and education provides an insight
into practical implementation of MRI computer simulations. It
covers the theory of classical MR physics and the necessary
steps to simulate and visualise basic MR phenomena as
well as basic and advanced imaging sequences. Modelbased
simulations are helpful for the basic understanding
and education of MR physics, and are necessary for MRI
method development and sequence design. The lectures
introduce the most important aspects, physical models, and
computational techniques in order to simulate realistic MR
experiments. Special emphasis is given to pictorial design
and hands-on-the-keyboard lectures, enabling the attendees
to use MR simulations in future research projects.
The course will focus on
• Theory of classical MR: Applicability and limitations of
the physical models
• Computer simulation of classical NMR and MRI
experiments
• Implementation of optimised code for high performance
simulation of MR physics • Design and simulation of basic and advanced
MRI sequences
• Simulation of MRI artifacts related to basic physics,
off-resonance effects, motion and flow
• MR simulation under realistic physiological conditions
including diffusion and perfusion
• Interfacing simulated MR-data into image reconstruction
and post-processing software
• MR simulations as an educational tool and for
visualisation of basic phenomena
• MR simulations in research: protocol optimisation,
pulse design, model verification
The new course RF simulation for MR systems: coil design
and safety is designed to give an in-depth introduction to
the numerical computation of radio-frequency (RF) fields
in magnetic resonance (MR) systems with main focus on
the application to RF coil design and patient RF safety.
The course programme includes modules with theoretical
lectures, practical exercises as well as hands-on training on
commercial simulation platforms. The goal of the course is
to enable the participants to solve typical MR-related field
problems with suitable numerical models and to implement
post-processing procedures to characterise multi-channel RF
coils and to assess the RF exposure of patients/volunteers.
The course will focus on
• Commonly used numerical methods
(e.g. FDTD/FIT, FEM)
• Characteristics of the solution in the time
and frequency domain
• Basics of electromagnetic theory
• Use of principle of reciprocity in MRI
• Generation of appropriate numerical models
• Interpretation of numerical results
• Validation methods for numerical results
• Principles of RF coil design and coil characterisation
• Implementation of post-processing procedures
for coil characterisation
• Numerical assessment of the RF exposure
of the human body
• Learning through practical exercises with application of
different numerical methods to fundamental MR-related
problems
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