European Ultrahigh-Field Imaging Network for Neurodegenerative Diseases (EUFIND)

Emrah Düzel; Julio Acosta-Cabronero; David Berron; Geert Jan Biessels; Isabella Björkman-Burtscher; Michel Bottlaender; Richard Bowtell; Mark V Buchem; Arturo Cardenas-Blanco; Fawzi Boumezbeur; Dennis Chan; Stuart Clare; Mauro Costagli; Ludovic de Rochefort; Ariane Fillmer; Penny Gowland; Oskar Hansson; Jeroen Hendrikse; Oliver Kraff; Mark E Ladd; Itamar Ronen; Esben Petersen; James B Rowe; Hartwig Siebner; Tony Stoecker; Sina Straub; Michela Tosetti; Kamil Uludag; Alexandre Vignaud; Jaco Zwanenburg; Oliver Speck

doi:10.1016/j.dadm.2019.04.010

European Ultrahigh-Field Imaging Network for Neurodegenerative Diseases (EUFIND)

Alzheimers Dement (Amst). 2019 Jul 31:11:538-549. doi: 10.1016/j.dadm.2019.04.010. eCollection 2019 Dec.

Authors

Emrah Düzel^{1

2

3

4}, Julio Acosta-Cabronero^{2

5}, David Berron^{2

6}, Geert Jan Biessels⁷, Isabella Björkman-Burtscher^{6

8}, Michel Bottlaender⁹, Richard Bowtell¹⁰, Mark V Buchem¹¹, Arturo Cardenas-Blanco^{1

2}, Fawzi Boumezbeur⁹, Dennis Chan¹², Stuart Clare¹³, Mauro Costagli^{14

15}, Ludovic de Rochefort¹⁶, Ariane Fillmer¹⁷, Penny Gowland¹⁰, Oskar Hansson^{6

18}, Jeroen Hendrikse⁷, Oliver Kraff¹⁹, Mark E Ladd^{20

21}, Itamar Ronen¹¹, Esben Petersen²², James B Rowe¹², Hartwig Siebner^{22

23}, Tony Stoecker²⁴, Sina Straub²⁰, Michela Tosetti^{14

15}, Kamil Uludag^{25

26}, Alexandre Vignaud⁹, Jaco Zwanenburg⁷, Oliver Speck^{2

4

27

28}

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Dementia Research, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
² German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany.
³ Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, UK.
⁴ Center for Behavioral Brain Science, Magdeburg, Germany.
⁵ Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK.
⁶ 7Lund University BioImaging Center, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
⁷ Department of Neurology, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
⁸ Departement of Radiology, Sahlgrenska Akademy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
⁹ NeuroSpin, CEA & Université Paris-Saclay, Gif-Sur-Yvette, France.
¹⁰ Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre, School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.
¹¹ Department of Radiology, University Medical Center Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands.
¹² Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹³ Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
¹⁴ Imago 7 Research Foundation, Pisa, Italy.
¹⁵ Laboratory of Medical Physics and Magnetic Resonance, IRCCS Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy.
¹⁶ Center for Magnetic Resonance in Biology and Medicine (UMR 7339), CRMBM, CNRS - Aix Marseille Université, Marseille, France.
¹⁷ Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB), Berlin, Germany.
¹⁸ Memory Clinic, Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden.
¹⁹ Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, Essen, Germany.
²⁰ Medical Physics in Radiology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany.
²¹ Faculty of Physics and Astronomy and Faculty of Medicine, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
²² Danish Center for Magnetic Resonance, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark.
²³ Department of Neurology, Copenhagen University Hospital Bispebjerg, Copenhagen, Denmark.
²⁴ German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE), Bonn, Germany.
²⁵ Center for Neuroscience Imaging Research, Institute for Basic Science and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
²⁶ Techna Institute & Koerner Scientist in MR Imaging, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
²⁷ Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany.
²⁸ Leibniz-Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Magdeburg, Germany.

Abstract

Introduction: The goal of European Ultrahigh-Field Imaging Network in Neurodegenerative Diseases (EUFIND) is to identify opportunities and challenges of 7 Tesla (7T) MRI for clinical and research applications in neurodegeneration. EUFIND comprises 22 European and one US site, including over 50 MRI and dementia experts as well as neuroscientists.

Methods: EUFIND combined consensus workshops and data sharing for multisite analysis, focusing on 7 core topics: clinical applications/clinical research, highest resolution anatomy, functional imaging, vascular systems/vascular pathology, iron mapping and neuropathology detection, spectroscopy, and quality assurance. Across these topics, EUFIND considered standard operating procedures, safety, and multivendor harmonization.

Results: The clinical and research opportunities and challenges of 7T MRI in each subtopic are set out as a roadmap. Specific MRI sequences for each subtopic were implemented in a pilot study presented in this report. Results show that a large multisite 7T imaging network with highly advanced and harmonized imaging sequences is feasible and may enable future multicentre ultrahigh-field MRI studies and clinical trials.

Discussion: The EUFIND network can be a major driver for advancing clinical neuroimaging research using 7T and for identifying use-cases for clinical applications in neurodegeneration.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease (AD); Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Mild cognitive impairment (MCI); Parkinson's disease (PD); Subjective cognitive decline (SCD); Ultrahigh-field MRI; Vascular dementia.

Abstract

Grants and funding