Cardiovascular MRI

The heart is a difficult organ to visualize with MRI, because its motion is generally faster than the acquisition time of conventional MR imaging. However, MR is very versatile, as it can measure multiple important parameters of cardiac and cardiovascular function, including blood flow, and tissue characteristics.

We develop methods for cardiac, cardiovascular, and neurovascular imaging, with specific focus on flow and quantitative imaging.

Project leader and contact

Project members

Collaborators

  • Prof. Dr. med. Jens Bremerich
  • PD Dr. med. Philip Haaf
  • Prof. Rares Salomir  - HUG Geneva
  • Prof. Jean-Paul Vallée  - HUG Geneva

Selected publications

Santini, F., Gui, L., Lorton, O., Guillemin, P. C., Manasseh, G., Roth, M., Bieri, O., Vallée, J.-P., Salomir, R., & Crowe, L. A. (2020). Ultrasound-driven cardiac MRI. Physica Medica: European Journal of Medical Physics, 70, 161–168. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejmp.2020.01.008
Santini, F., Pansini, M., Hrabak-Paar, M., Yates, D., Langenickel, T. H., Bremerich, J., Bieri, O., & Schubert, T. (2020). On the optimal temporal resolution for phase contrast cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging: establishment of baseline values. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, 22(1), 72. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12968-020-00669-1
Santini, F., Kawel-Boehm, N., Greiser, A., Bremerich, J., & Bieri, O. (2015). Simultaneous T1 and T2 quantification of the myocardium using cardiac balanced-SSFP inversion recovery with interleaved sampling acquisition (CABIRIA). Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 74(2), 365–371. https://doi.org/10.1002/mrm.25402
Schubert, T., Pansini, M., Bieri, O., Stippich, C., Wetzel, S., Schaedelin, S., von Hessling, A., & Santini, F. (2015). Attenuation of blood flow pulsatility along the Atlas slope: a physiologic property of the distal vertebral artery? AJNR. American Journal of Neuroradiology, 36(3), 562–567. https://doi.org/10.3174/ajnr.A4148
Kawel-Boehm, N., Dellas Buser, T., Greiser, A., Bieri, O., Bremerich, J., & Santini, F. (2014). In-vivo assessment of normal T1 values of the right-ventricular myocardium by cardiac MRI. The International Journal of Cardiovascular Imaging, 30(2), 323–328. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-013-0326-3
Kawel, N., Santini, F., Haas, T., Froehlich, J. M., & Bremerich, J. (2013). Effect of protein binding substances on T1 times and the partition coefficient in contrast-enhanced cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, 15(1), 1–2.
Meckel, S., Leitner, L., Bonati, L. H., Santini, F., Schubert, T., Stalder, A. F., Lyrer, P., Markl, M., & Wetzel, S. G. (2013). Intracranial artery velocity measurement using 4D PC MRI at 3 T: comparison with transcranial ultrasound techniques and 2D PC MRI. Neuroradiology, 55(4), 389–398.
Kawel, N., Nacif, M., Santini, F., Liu, S., Bremerich, J., Arai, A. E., & Bluemke, D. A. (2012). Partition coefficients for gadolinium chelates in the normal myocardium: Comparison of gadopentetate dimeglumine and gadobenate dimeglumine. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 36(3), 733–737.
Kawel, N., Santini, F., Haas, T., Froehlich, J. M., & Bremerich, J. (2012). The protein binding substance Ibuprofen does not affect the T1 time or partition coefficient in contrast-enhanced cardiovascular magnetic resonance. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance, 14(1), 1–7.
Kawel, N., Santini, F., Haas, T., Zellweger, M. J., Streefkerk, H. J., & Bremerich, J. (2012). Normal response of cardiac flow and function to adenosine stress as assessed by cardiac MR. Journal of Cardiovascular Medicine, 13(11), 720–726.
Schubert, T., Santini, F., Stalder, A., Bock, J., Meckel, S., Bonati, L., Markl, M., & Wetzel, S. (2011). Dampening of blood-flow pulsatility along the carotid siphon: does form follow function? American Journal of Neuroradiology, 32(6), 1107–1112.
Santini, F., Wetzel, S. G., Bock, J., Markl, M., & Scheffler, K. (2009). Time-resolved three-dimensional (3D) phase-contrast (PC) balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP). Magnetic Resonance in Medicine: An Official Journal of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 62(4), 966–974.
Meckel, S., Stalder, A. F., Santini, F., Radü, E.-W., Rüfenacht, D. A., Markl, M., & Wetzel, S. G. (2008). In vivo visualization and analysis of 3-D hemodynamics in cerebral aneurysms with flow-sensitized 4-D MR imaging at 3 T. Neuroradiology, 50(6), 473–484.
Santini, F., Patil, S., Meckel, S., Scheffler, K., & Wetzel, S. G. (2008). Double-reference cross-correlation algorithm for separation of the arteries and veins from 3D MRA time series. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging: An Official Journal of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, 28(3), 646–654.