How MRI Field Strength Impacts Epilepsy Diagnosis: Insights from Low to Ultra-High-Field Imaging
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) plays a crucial role in the diagnosis of epilepsy. For decades, MRI has been an essential tool in epilepsy diagnostics, with 3 Tesla scanners serving as the clinical standard. But what if we could see even more? Ultra-high-field MRI at 7 Tesla offers improved image quality, potentially revealing lesions that remain invisible at lower field strengths. At the other end of the spectrum, ultra-low-field MRI at 0.064T introduces a portable, cost-effective option—could this technology open new possibilities for diagnosis, especially in resource-limited and point-of-care settings?
Imaging on Three Scales
How does MRI field strength impact epilepsy diagnosis? Can ultra-high-field MRI truly improve lesion detection, or do standard 3T scans provide sufficient detail? And what about ultra-low-field (ULF) MRI—can it be a viable alternative in certain settings? Our collaboration with the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (DZNE) allows us to investigate these questions using a unique setting of MRI systems of three different field strengths.
​Best of both worlds? AI meets Ultra-high-field MRI
One undeniable advantage of ultra-high-field MRI is the ability to use advanced imaging techniques such as Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) and Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST). QSM provides insights into iron deposits and myelin integrity, which could help detect microstructural abnormalities beyond their features visible in structural scans. CEST, on the other hand, enables the visualization of metabolic processes at a molecular level, potentially identifying subtle biochemical changes in pathogenic tissue. These novel imaging approaches open new doors for understanding epilepsy and other neurological disorders beyond traditional structural imaging.
