Revolutionizing Portable MRI-Imaging

Since last year, our research group has had access to both a conventional 3 Tesla MRI scanner and an ultra-high 7 Tesla MRI scanner. In cooperation with Hyperfine, we are now also able to perform ultra-low imaging with a magnetic field strength of only 0.064 Tesla, offering yet another perspective on brain imaging. The Hyperfine Swoop System is a portable magnetic resonance brain imaging system that does not require the same siting and shielding as conventional MRI systems. Its portability enables timely brain imaging, as the patients do not need to be transported to larger, shielded MRI facilities; instead, they can be positioned in the scanner quickly and with minimal effort.

In May 2024, we were able to use the Hyperfine Scanner, generously lent by Professor Dr. Hemmen Sabir from the Department of Neonatology, for brain imaging in epilepsy patients. This exciting project allowed us to experience the advantages of such a compact scanner, enabling us to scan epilepsy patients directly after they experienced seizures. For epilepsy diagnostic, the ultra-low imaging provides a valuable new tool to detect brain lesions which might be causing seizures, as it generates brain images almost immediately following seizure events.

Through a big team effort, including overnight stays at the epilepsy care unit, we successfully collected brain images during both interictal and postictal periods. We are currently working on comparing those images, analyzing the differences, and further evaluating the quality of images generated by the scanner.

Theodor, Tobias and Lennart visit London

Theodor, Tobias and Lennart were invited by Ley Sander on a visit to London, where they gave presentations on Thursday evening at the Queen Square Institute of Neurology. The following day, they traveled to Chalfont St Peter to visit the Epilepsy Centre and share the lab's research at the Chalfont Journal Club. Besides that, as passionate opera enthusiasts, attending Tosca at the Royal Opera House was an absolute must for Theodor and Tobias.

Not bad. But have you ever been to Baden-Württemberg?

From June 12-15, 2024, the TNI research group took part in the conference of the DGfE (German Society for Epilepsy) in Offenburg.

The group around Theodor Rüber showed a strong presence with 7 lectures and two poster presentations, shaping the discourse on epilepsy imaging.

Our junior scientist and medical student Nina Held spoke about the latest discovery, which indicates cortical and subcortical iron accumulations in focal epilepsy using susceptibility-weighted ultra-high-field imaging (paper in review). Tobias Bauer presented his research on neuroimaging correlates of autoimmune encephalitis as a network disease to a large audience and presented a new way of subtyping Rasmussen's encephalitis using an innovative MRI back-modeling approach. Lennart Walger reported practice-oriented results of an evaluation framework for humans and machines from the research field of AI models in everyday clinical practice. Two sessions on “Cross-scale imaging of autoimmune encephalitides” and “New possibilities through ultra-high-field MRI in epileptologic diagnostics and research” were planned and conducted under the chairmanship of Theodor; the experienced scientist also spoke on the major topics of “Innovative approaches and artificial intelligence in imaging in epileptology” and “Possibilities of ultra-high-field MRI in epilepsy research”. We even learned that the smallest MRI in the world can honk.

In addition, posters on functional disorders of the olfactory network in temporal lobe epilepsy by Markus Schmidt and on blood-brain barrier disorders in the hippocampus in people with epilepsy by Theda v. der Recke were successfully presented.

With 4/5 epilepsy patients from low- and middle-income countries and a worldwide lack of care in rural regions associated with a lack of resources, low socio-economic status and prevailing stigmatization, epilepsy research is a globally explosive topic. The young medical student Sarah Fegeler from the Global Epilepsy Working Group headed by Theodor Rüber presented results of her research “Therapy outcome of a telemedical pilot program in Chile”.

Our lab was invited to the social evening by Rainer Surges, Director of the Clinic for Epileptology, who over food, dance and drinks brought the community of epilepsy researchers closer together.