MR Fingerprinting: A Novel Sequence Applied to Neuroimaging

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has become one of most important medical imaging tools over the past 30 years because it is non-invasive, requires no ionizing radiation, and provides exquisite images of soft tissues and anatomic structures with many tissue/disease specific contrasts. While MRI has served the community well for many years, it is increasingly clear that it also has significant limitations.

One of the principle limitations is the lack of quantitative information for tissue/structure characterization. The current paradigm of MRI is to use a set of scanner settings to generate an image "weighted" by a specific MR contrast mechanism (physical parameter), where it is hoped that variations in the parameter will be accentuated. However, without quantitative knowledge of the parameters, the final image contrast may depend on many factors, which complicates image interpretation and diagnostic performance. Quantitative measurement can provide a great deal of information about tissue properties and pathological conditions, since these parameters ultimately determine the contrast that is observed in conventional images.

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Key information

Conditions

Disease;Neurological Nervous System Diseases

Age range

18 year–99 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 27599, United States

About this study

The purpose of this study is to evaluate novel quantitative MRI techniques in clinical studies to determine whether they can provide better, faster and more useful information for clinical diagnosis. Quantitative MRI has been a continuous interest in the MRI community, but extremely challenging due to long acquisition times and sensitivity to motion. Recently, the investigators have introduced a novel MRI data acquisition approach, namely MR Fingerprinting (MRF), for simultaneous measurement of several important parameters in a single MRI scan.

In this study, the investigators propose to apply MR Fingerprinting at UNC and evaluate its performance for different neurological diseases. The investigators hypothesize that the quantitative MR imaging technique will lead to improved tissue characterization and diagnosis.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

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

Inclusion criteria

The study will include English-speaking patients that are already scheduled to undergo a clinical neurological MRI for diagnostic purposes.

Exclusion criteria

Pregnant women will be excluded.

Treatment and study plan

MR Fingerprinting

Device

The MR fingerprinting technique requires less than 15 minutes and will be added following the standard MRI sequence.

Primary outcomes

Percent of Participants With Visible Region of Interest (Imaging Visibility)

Time frame: Immediately following MRI completion, within approximately 5 minutes

Magnetic Resonance (MR) fingerprinting sequences will be examined to determine their utility for visualizing pathology.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start: 2019
Primary completion: 2022
Study completion: 2022
First posted: Jan 11, 2019
Registry last updated: Jun 12, 2023

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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