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NCT Number: NCT07513467

3T Magnetic Resonance Neurography

The goal of this observational study is to evaluate whether optimized high-resolution MRI can better visualize very fine nerves in the cervical spine and neck region compared to standard MRI. The main question it aims to answer is:

Can high-resolution MRI reliably show small nerves and potentially detect their injuries or diseases that are often invisible on conventional MRI scans?

Participants will come once to Balgrist University Hospital for a one-hour visit. They will fill out a questionnaire and have a single 30-minute MRI scan of the cervical spine without contrast.

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Key information

Conditions

Healthy Adults

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

About this study

Diseases and injuries of the nerves in the area of the cervical spine and neck region are among the most common causes of pain in the neck, shoulder, and arm areas. To clarify the cause of the pain, an MRI examination of the neck region is therefore very often requested in order to visualize the nerves. However, some very fine nerves - in particular the smaller branches of the cervical nerves - are so thin that they can usually only be visualized incompletely or not at all reliably with conventional MRI techniques. As a result, injuries or diseases of some nerves frequently remain undetected, even though these nerves perform important motor functions - for example, the movement of the shoulder, the arm, or (in rare cases) also the diaphragm. Through modified and technically advanced MRI protocols (in particular high-resolution MR neurography), significantly better images can now be generated.

This study therefore investigates whether these special techniques can also clearly depict even very small nerves, so that these techniques can be applied in the future to patients with pathological changes and these changes can be better identified.

Participation involves a single visit to Balgrist University Hospital. The time commitment is one hour. Participants receive oral information about the project, complete a short questionnaire, and subsequently undergo the MRI examination. The time spent in the MRI scanner is approximately 30 minutes.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • written consent to agree to participate in this study

Exclusion criteria

  • <18 years of age
  • pregnancy
  • known cervical spine pathology or history of neck surgery
  • contraindication to perform non-contrast-enhanced MRI

Treatment and study plan

High-resolution three-dimensional magnetic resonance neurography protocols

Diagnostic Test

Clinical standard three-dimensional magnetic resonance neurography sequences with high spatial resolution

Primary outcomes

  1. Proportion of visible small-caliber nerve segments

    Time frame: Within 12 weeks after MRI acquisition during radiological readout

    Visibility of small-caliber cervical nerves (phrenic, spinal accessory, dorsal scapular, vagus nerve) per segment (proximal, midsegment, distal) on both sides (left/right) per volunteer. Two board-certified radiologists with experience in MR Neurography will independently determine visibility (binary score: 0 = not visible, 1 = visible). Visibility is defined as continuous depiction of the nerve segment over its entire length with signal intensity clearly distinguishable from background tissue.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Image quality score across different acceleration factors

    Time frame: Within 12 weeks after MRI acquisition during radiological readout

    Image quality of small-caliber cervical nerves across varying acceleration factors will be independently assessed by two radiologists using a 4-point Likert scale (0 = poor/non-diagnostic, 2 = moderate, 3 = good, 4 = excellent).

  2. Inter-reader agreement for visibility and image quality

    Time frame: Within 12 weeks after MRI acquisition during radiological readout

    Reliability of visibility and image quality of small-caliber cervical nerves and nerve segments will be assessed by inter-reader agreement.

  3. Frequency of anatomic variants

    Time frame: Within 12 weeks after MRI acquisition during radiological readout

    Frequency of anatomical variants of small-caliber cervical nerves, reported as percentage of volunteers.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Frederik Abel, MD

CONTACT

[email protected]

+41 44 386 33 27

Reto Sutter, MD

CONTACT

[email protected]

+41 44 386 33 08

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Balgrist University Hospital

Other

Registry information

Official study title

High-resolution MR Neurography Evaluation of the Cervical Spine at 3 Tesla

Acronym: 3T MRN

Important dates

Study start
2026
Primary completion
2028
Study completion
2028
First posted
Apr 7, 2026
Registry last updated
Apr 7, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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