Magnetic Resonance FingerprintingA new dimension in quantitative MRI
MRF is a potentially disruptive new approach to quantitative data acquisition, while reducing complexity in imaging.
MRF is designed to provide quantitative multiparametric maps with a high level of robustness and reproducibility. This type of signal acquisition could enable a new level of comparability and consistency in MRI.
Through multiparametric maps acquired simultaneously, MRF is designed to enable tissue characterization with quantitative parameters to help detect and analyze early tissue changes.
Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) exclusively partners with Siemens Healthcare in order to further refine this highly promising method of quantitative tissue analysis.
Motivation and technique
The MRF technique does not acquire traditional clinical images, but instead is designed to gather tissue information based on the signal evolution for voxels. Acquisition parameters are varied in a pseudorandom fashion, and the signal evolutions are recorded and collected in a database or ‘dictionary’. After the acquisition, a pattern recognition algorithm is used to find the dictionary entry that best represents the acquired signal evolution of each voxel. The signal evolutions equate in many ways to ‘fingerprints’ of tissue properties, which, like the identification of human fingerprints in forensics, can only be analyzed by comparing them with a file containing all known fingerprints. The dictionary is equivalent to the database where all the known fingerprints are stored, together with all the information relative to each person. In the forensic case, each fingerprint points to the feature identification of the associated person such as name, height, weight, eye color, date of birth, etc. In the case of MRF, each fingerprint in the dictionary points to the MR related identification features of the associated tissue (such as T1, T2, relative spin density, B0, diffusion, etc.).
"A potentially new, disruptive approach to clinical diagnostic imaging with the potential to quantitatively detect and analyze complex changes that can represent physical alterations of a substance or early indications of disease."1
Designed to be motion-insensitive
MRF has the potential to be less sensitive to motion in comparison to conventional MR acquisition techniques.
Imaging examples
MR Fingerprinting is currently in use for research at University Hospital Essen (Germany), and the Medical University of Vienna (Austria). Studies are being conducted in brain tumors and other neurological disorders, liver, heart and in the prostate.
Quantitative brain imaging
Case Study: MRF Imaging of the Brain
Siegfried Trattnig et al., Medical University Vienna, Austria
MRF has the potential to provide quantitative parameters, to help differentiate tumors in the brain.
Asymptomatic patient with Multiple Sclerosis.
Quantitative liver imaging
MRF is designed to acquire all information in a single scan and to provide:
- multiple quantitative maps
- perfect coregistration of different maps
- acquisition in a single breath-hold scan
This cannot be achieved by conventional methods that require multiple, separate scans.
Quantitative prostate imaging
Patient with prostate cancer in the left peripheral zone with reduced T1 and T2 values in MRF maps.
MRF case study of biopsy confirmed low grade prostate cancer
(Gleason score 3+3).
Quantitative cardiac imaging
Cardiac MRF compared to conventional mapping techniques: MRF has the potential to provide similar values to current quantitative methods.
Articles and talks
Clinical Benefits of MRF in Brain Tumors
Meiyun Wang, MD, PhD; et al. (Henan Provincial People’s Hospital & the People’s Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China)
Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting –
The Future of Quantitative MR Neuroimaging
Gregor Kasprian, M.D.; Victor Schmidbauer, M.D.
(Dept of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, Medical University of Vienna, Austria)
Quantitative and Intelligent MRI for Underserved Populations
Nicole Seiberlich (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Clinical Benefits of MR Fingerprinting
Meiyun Wang; Henan Provincial People's Hospital, China
Novelties in MR Fingerprinting
Gregor Körzdörfer, Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany
Application of MRF in Epilepsy
Dan Ma, et al., Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
MR Fingerprinting in the Brain – Precise Quantitative MRI
Gregor Koerzdoerfer, Ph.D., Siemens Healthineers Lunch Symposium ESMRMB 2019, Rotterdam, NL
Exploring New Frontiers in MRI
Sascha Daeuber, Ph.D., Siemens Healthineers Lunch Symposium ESMRMB 2019, Rotterdam, NL
MR Fingerprinting. A New Path for Clinical Quantitative MR
Dan Ma (Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA), ISMRM Lunch Symposium, Montréal, Canada, 2019
Tissue Segmentation and Partial Volume Estimation with Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting
Dan Ma, et al., Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
Magnetic Resonance Field Fingerprinting (MRF)
Mathias Nittka, Ph.D., et al., Siemens Healthineers, Erlangen, Germany
Overview of MR Fingerprinting
Vikas Gulani et al., Dept. of Radiology, Case Western Reserve University, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA
7T MR and MR Fingerprinting – Will They Shape the Future of MR?
Siegfried Trattnig, Dept. of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy, MR Centre of Excelence, Medical University of Vienna, Austria
(MRF starts at 14:45)
New Application Opportunities Using MR Fingerprinting
Mark Griswold, Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, USA),
9th MAGNETOM World Summit in Oxfordshire, UK
MR Fingerprint Imaging at 7T*; the New Way of Imaging!
Mark Griswold, Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, USA),
4th Ultra-High Field User Meeting, Vienna, Austria
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Magnetic Resonance Fingerprinting is currently under development and not commercially available. It is not for sale in the US or other countries. Its future availability cannot be guaranteed.
Images courtesy of Andreas Bartsch, Radiologie Bamberg, Germany and of Vikas Gulani, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, USA