This project concerns a collaboration between the 5 Flemish Universities and the 4 University Hospitals in Flanders. Our goal is to translate research into clinical practice.
The research infrastructure of Flanders 7T consists of a very powerful MRI scanner with a magnetic field strength of 7 tesla (T) to improve management of diseases of different structures of the human body (e.g. dementia and epilepy in the brain, liver, bone marrow, kidney, prostate and the musculoskeletal system). Such a 7T system has a number of advantages over standard MRI scanners used in clinical routine like a higher signal, better tissue contrast and superior metabolite differentiation. The advantages also allow us to study dynamic changes like brain functions with a much higher precision. Traditional low MRI signal applications like imaging of molecules other than water and fat (glucose as an example), or atoms other than protons (e.g. sodium, phosphorus and deuterium) profit enormously from the higher field strength. This promotes insights into metabolic processes for early and precise diagnosis and better therapy management. But 7T MRI scanners are complex and a number of challenges remain to be addressed by this project to uncover the potential described above.
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