You have already heard about spins and k-space? Do you want to learn more about the basics but also about aspects relevant to your daily MRI practice?
ESMRMB offers you an online eLearning course on practical MR physics for clinicians, biologists, radiographers and technicians who work with MRI or have an interest in using MRI for research. Participants do not necessarily need extensive experience in MR techniques and MR physics. The course  helps you to deepen your knowledge and prepares you for facing problems, questions and pitfalls in your daily MRI routine and research.
The eLearning course consists of 8 modules of 60 minutes, which take place once a week and a self-assessment test. Each module consists of a presentation in the form of a live lecture given by experienced teachers and, additionally, offers the possibility of direct interaction with the speaker during the lecture, as well as dedicated question/answer time at the end of each module.
The course is divided in 2 parts with independent registrations. A minimum number of attendance is required for a certificate, but all lectures are recorded and available on demand. Passing the self-assessment test additionally offers a certificate of competence.

GOALS

Attendance of the course on practical MR physics for clinicians, biologists, radiographers and technicians will enable you to:

• profoundly understand signal and contrast generation in MR images at different conditions (morphological, biophysical and technical), as well as introduction to MR spectroscopy
• enhance your understanding of image formation in MRI
• use basic and advanced MR sequences for your clinical questions and avoid pitfalls
• assess and enhance image quality by optimizing sequence and imaging parameters
• understand advanced MRI techniques such as diffusion imaging, perfusion sequences, functional MRI
• interpret MR images back to tissue components and functional activities
• ensure safe application of MRI by knowing the involved hardware components and basic safety risks

GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE LECTURES

Part I: Basic MRI Principles

1. The Physical Basis of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, Jan Hövener
2. Basics of Image Formation, Felix Breuer
3. Advanced Reconstruction Techniques, Sebastian Kozerke
4. Basic Sequences and Image Quality, Jochen Leupold

Part II: Advanced and Applied MRI Principles

5. Fat Suppression and Introduction to Quantitative Imaging, Jessica Bastiaansen
6. Diffusion and Beyond, Cornelius Faber
7. More Clinical Sequences, Contrast Agents & Contrast-enhanced MR Angiography, Ilona Dekkers
8. MR Safety, Francesco Santini

PART I – DETAILS

MODULE 1
The Physical Basis of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Tuesday, 5^th of September 2023, 5pm CEST
Lecturer: Jan Hövener, Kiel/ DE

• Spin and magnetic moment
• Spin precession and Larmor frequency
• Magnetic properties of nuclei
• Spin-lattice relaxation
• Transverse magnetization and transverse relaxation
• Radiofrequency pulse, return to equilibrium and the magnetic resonance signal
• Information available from NMR, Clinical spectroscopy

MODULE 2
Basics of Image Formation
Tuesday, 12^th of September 2023, 5pm CEST
Lecturer: Felix Breuer, Würzburg/ DE

• Introduction to magnetic resonance imaging and to Fourier Transform
• Magnetic field gradients
• Spatial encoding
• Slice / volume selection
• Frequency encoding
• Phase encoding
• 2D / 3D k-space
• Image reconstruction
• Image resolution
• FOV / aliasing

MODULE 3
Advanced Reconstruction Techniques
Tuesday, 19^th of September 2023, 5pm CEST
Lecturer: Sebastian Kozerke, Zürich/ CH

• Magnetic field variations: chemical shift vs. Gradients
• Image reconstruction
• Sampling techniques
• Parallel imaging
• Compressed sensing
• Machine learning/ AI for speeding reconstruction

MODULE 4
Basic clinical sequences and image quality
Tuesday, 26^th of September 2023, 5pm CEST
Lecturer: Jochen Leupold, Freiburg/ DE

• Gradient echo and Spin echo
• Basic contrasts: T1, T2 and proton density
• Fast imaging: SSFP and RARE
• Contrast in SSFP and RARE sequences
• Sequence-independent influences on SNR
• The impact of readout bandwidth

MODULE 5
Fat Suppression and Introduction to Quantitative Imaging
Tuesday, 10^th of October 2023, 5pm CEST
Lecturer: Jessica Bastiaansen, Bern/ CH

• Different fat suppression techniques: STIR, FatSat, SPAIR, water excitation, Dixon imaging
• Quantitative T1 and T2 mapping
• MR fingerprinting, Quantitative Parameter Mapping
• More examples and organs of interest for quantitative imaging

MODULE 6
Diffusion and Beyond
Tuesday, 17^th of October 2022, 5pm CEST
Lecturer: Cornelius Faber, Münster/DE

• Diffusion
• Perfusion
• Functional MRI
• Susceptibility weighted imaging

MODULE 7
More Clinical Sequences, Contrast Agents & Contrast-enhanced MR Angiography
Tuesday, 24^th of October 2023, 5pm CEST
Lecturer: Ilona Dekkers, Leiden/ NL

• Flow effects in MRI
• MRA: Dark Blood (FSE, IR, SWI) vs. Bright Blood
• MRA: Bright Blood Non-Contrast Enhanced( ToF, PC, SSFP, FSE, ASL)
• MRA: Bright Blood Contrast-Enhanced
• Introduction to contrast agents
• Gadolinium based
• Special contrast agents
• Safety of contrast agents