News

New deep learning (DL) technology has been introduced within the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre at QMC Campus as part of an upgrade to the MRI research facility’s 3 Tesla scanning system.

The upgrade at the University of Nottingham-managed facility allowed the introduction of AIR™ Recon DL as part of the work to update the SIGNA™ Premier 3.0T MR system (by GE Healthcare) at the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre. AIR™ Recon DL is a pioneering, deep-learning based reconstruction algorithm, which represents a breakthrough for improving image sharpness and signal-to-noise ratio, enabling shorter scan times along with other clinical benefits.

“As a researcher working on a clinical trial investigating pain mechanisms in patients with knee osteoarthritis, this is particularly relevant for my research,” said PhD researcher in Radiological Sciences, Dr Yasmine Zedan.

“Using this pioneering technique not only provides a tangible improvement in lesion conspicuity and image quality of the acquired knee MRI, but also allows scan times which are approximately 45% quicker than the conventional protocol.”

Looking forward, in addition to the MRI research itself; the benefits of this state-of-the-art technology can extend to clinical and financial aspects of Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Long imaging times, along with the trade-offs between signal-to-noise ratio, spatial resolution and scan time are common clinical challenges.

As MRI facilities are under pressure to meet increasingly growing waiting lists, reducing scan times without compromising the image quality can provide tangible clinical advantages, which translate to better patient care.

Researchers who are interested in incorporating Air DL Recon into their future MRI protocols should contact the BRC Imaging theme via our website: https://nottinghambrc.nihr.ac.uk/research/mri