Clinical fMRI & DTI - Theory and Pratice

May 27–29, 2010
Milan, IT

In order to register, please click here:

Course organiser:
Stefan Sunaert / Leuven, BE

Local organiser:
Claudia M. Cinnante / Milan, IT

Course venue:
Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale
Maggiore Policlinico
Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiology Department
Director: Dr. V. Branca
via F.Sforza 35
IT - 20122 Milan

Faculty:
M. Caulo, C. Cinnante, N. Colombo, F. Di Salle, A. Falini, D. Jones, S. Lehéricy, M. Smits, S. Sunaert, S. Williams

Programme:
Please click here to download the programme of the course as PDF.

Course duration:
Thursday morning – Saturday noon

The aim of this course:
The aim of this course is to convey in-depth knowledge about functional MRI (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). These relatively new MR techniques are increasingly applied to the study of the healthy and pathological human brain and provide information about neuronal network activity and connectivity. The course will offer an overview of present methodologies, an update about functional anatomy and an overview of clinical & research applications.
These topics will be taught using a mixture of lectures and small group exercises. Furthermore, there will be a 4-hour lasting practical session on a 1.5T and 3T imager with scanning of volunteers during fMRI/DTI experiments. A hands-on workshop on data analysis will be provided. Finally, special attention is given to the (clinical) interpretation of specific cases. These cases include results from both routine presurgical fMRI examinations and more advanced fMRI (group) studies.
It should be noted that the 2010 course has been substantially updated in comparison to the previous courses and focuses more on the applications in neuroradiology, neurology and psychiatry than on presurgical fMRI, as was the case in the past.
We are happy to welcome you to this course in Milan, Italy!


Participation Requirements:
Physicians, technologists and psychologists who have attended the School of MRI Applied MR Techniques courses or have good knowledge from other sources; minimum of 3 months experience in applied MRI and/or fMRI or DTI.

Learning Objectives

Basics of fMRI
• Physiological principles of fMRI
• Blood oxygen level dependent contrast (BOLD)
MR technique and imaging sequences
• Resting state fMRI

Basics of DTI
• Physiological principles of anisotropic diffusion
• DTI technique and imaging sequences
• Concepts of quantification of white matter integrity
• Concepts of fiber tractography

Experimental Design
• Technical set-up for fMRI
• Blocked versus event-related paradigms
• Paradigms: development, implementation and pitfalls

Data Analysis
• Preprocessing
• Statistical analysis
• Fiber tractography

Functional Anatomy
• Motor system
• Language system
• Visual system
• Auditory system
• Applications and (clinical) interpretation

fMRI/DTI in Neurology
• Application in stroke
• Application in multiple sclerosis
• Application in neurodegenerative diseases
• Plasticity

Presurgical fMRI/DTI
• Risk estimation in brain tumour patients
• Combining fMRI and DTI in brain tumour patients
• Challenges and pitfalls

fMRI/DTI in Psychiatry
• Applications in psychiatric disease
• Pharmacological fMRI
• Pitfalls