Pulmonary MRI Using Ultra Short /Zero TE Sequences

Modern imaging modalities, especially magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have greatly advanced in recent years. Through technical advances, proton-based magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has steadily increased in use to assess pulmonary structures in the pediatric population especially in Europe. Such technical developments have advanced by overcoming rapid decaying of transverse relaxation time and cardiac/chest movement synchronization, showing MRI to be feasible with respect to morphological and functional assessment of pulmonary impairment, in chronic lung disease such as cystic fibrosis for disease progression and prediction of exacerbation. However pulmonary imaging with MRI has also been feasible to detect pulmonary nodules in malignancies (allowing for spatial resolution).

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Key information

Conditions

Image

Age range

3 year–18 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

IWK Health Centre

Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K 6R8, Canada

About this study

This prospective study will enable developing/ fine tuning for an optimized ultra-short echo/zero echo MRI sequence to enable pulmonary imaging with assessment of detailed lung structures which is important in patient with chronic lung disease. This will enable radiation sparing through x-ray and computed tomography, especially reduce the accumulation dose in long term follow up imaging of patients with chronic lung disease. Also, detailed pulmonary imaging enables more detailed imaging in comparison to the standard reference of care often using radiographs, can pick up disease prior to clinical symptoms, is a useful tool to assess treatment outcome and can sometimes even prevent chronic changes by early disease diagnosis and rapid treatment. This is of particular interest in patients with chronic lung disease, such as cystic fibrosis, but also other congenital lung diseases such as congenital pulmonary airway malformation (CPAM) or malignant diseases which will otherwise have a second CT imaging to assess the lung.

The investigators will recruit healthy volunteers to assess the available MR sequences on the 1.5 T MRI scanner at the IWK health Centre in the Department of Diagnostic Imaging and either fine tune/modify the existing protocol with the help of the MRI technologist and application specialists or build a new sequence according to the most recent literature. The aim is to recruit 15 patients of different age group (aged 3- 18 years old) to assure a robust imaging protocol for all age groups. Especially, the preschool age group can be more challenging due to increased cardiac and respiratory motion, but also the understanding of the diagnostic imaging with guidance of the in house child life support as well as parental guidance and support, the possibility to watch a video on the MRI scanner to distract the patient as best as possible since the aim is to conduct the short pulmonary MRI protocol without the need for sedation.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

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

Inclusion criteria

Healthy participants (without prior history of pulmonary disease)
Ages 3 - 18 years old

Exclusion criteria

prior history of pulmonary disease
implants
surgeries
pregnancy
metal devices
braces
anything that would exclude them from taking an MRI

Treatment and study plan

MRI sequences

Device

Ultra short / zero TE sequence on MRI being tested on healthy patients and improved by manually fine tuning the sequence

Primary outcomes

Image Quality

Time frame: Image acquisition in November will undergo immediate assessment to potentially enhance imaging quality. Images will then be promptly reviewed on PACS after acquisition and post-trial termination, with parameters compared for an optimal sequence protocol.

Imaging acquisition with and without breath hold is being tested and ultimately reconstruction of the acquired imaging. It will be assessed if the imaging is going to be of clinical and diagnostic standard by an experienced pediatric and pulmonary radiologist who has worked with ultra-short/zero TE sequences in clinical routine before. Here by imaging will be assessed looking at overall quality, signal, movement artifact of heart and breathing. Feasibility of preschool children to undergo imaging protocol in terms of protocol length, breathing maneuvers, general tolerability.
Acquisition Time

Time frame: Volunteers get a call for MRI details. After 3 days, if they agree, we set imaging appointments. The PI and tech clarify, perform imaging, confirm post-exam well-being, and have a brief follow-up chat.

The image acquisition is meant to take place in November and imaging will be assessed at the time of acquisition so that alteration of imaging parameters might improve imaging overall. The images itself will again be viewed on PACS shortly after acquisition and after termination of the trial imaging acquisition. Parameters will be compared to elaborate the best possible sequence protocol.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

IWK Health Centre

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start: 2023
Primary completion: 2024
Study completion: 2024
First posted: Oct 24, 2023
Registry last updated: May 14, 2025

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.

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.

Completed