Ultrahigh field MRI in clinical neuroimmunology: a potential contribution to improved diagnostics and personalised disease management

Tim Sinnecker; Joseph Kuchling; Petr Dusek; Jan Dörr; Thoralf Niendorf; Friedemann Paul; Jens Wuerfel

doi:10.1186/s13167-015-0038-y

Ultrahigh field MRI in clinical neuroimmunology: a potential contribution to improved diagnostics and personalised disease management

EPMA J. 2015 Aug 27;6(1):16. doi: 10.1186/s13167-015-0038-y. eCollection 2015.

Authors

Tim Sinnecker^{1

2}, Joseph Kuchling¹, Petr Dusek^{3

4}, Jan Dörr^{1

5}, Thoralf Niendorf^{6

7}, Friedemann Paul^#^{1

5

7

8}, Jens Wuerfel^#^{1

3

6

9}

Affiliations

¹ NeuroCure Clinical Research Center (NCRC), Charité - Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
² Department of Neurology, Asklepios Fachklinikum Teupitz, Buchholzer Str. 21, 15755 Teupitz, Germany.
³ Institute of Neuroradiology, Universitaetsmedizin Goettingen, Robert-Koch-Straße 40, 37075 Goettingen, Germany.
⁴ Department of Neurology and Center of Clinical Neuroscience, Charles University in Prague, 1st Faculty of Medicine and General University Hospital in Prague, Kateřinská 30, 128 21 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
⁵ Clinical and Experimental Multiple Sclerosis Research Center, Department of Neurology, Charité Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
⁶ Berlin Ultrahigh Field Facility, Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Robert-Roessle-Strasse 10, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
⁷ Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Charité - Universitaetsmedizin Berlin and Max Delbrueck Center for Molecular Medicine, Robert-Roessle-Strasse 10, 13125 Berlin, Germany.
⁸ Department of Neurology, Charité - Universitaetsmedizin Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, 10117 Berlin, Germany.
⁹ Medical Image Analysis Center, Mittlere Strasse 83, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 1.5 Tesla (T) is limited by modest spatial resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), impeding the identification and classification of inflammatory central nervous system changes in current clinical practice. Gaining from enhanced susceptibility effects and improved SNR, ultrahigh field MRI at 7 T depicts inflammatory brain lesions in great detail. This review summarises recent reports on 7 T MRI in neuroinflammatory diseases and addresses the question as to whether ultrahigh field MRI may eventually improve clinical decision-making and personalised disease management.

Keywords: 7 Tesla; Central vein sign; Cortical lesions; Multiple sclerosis; Neuroimmunology; Neuromyelitis optica; Predictive, Preventive and Personalised Medicine; Susac syndrome; Ultrahigh field MRI.

Publication types

Review