Heart Muscle Fibres Study Wins Research Imaging Award  

MR Solutions’ Image of the Year 2019 award for the best molecular research image was presented to the Amsterdam University Medical Center, for its submission carried out by PhD researcher, Gustav Strijkers. The winners, which were presented at the ISMRM conference in May, were chosen by a panel of leading academics who examined images from MRI, PET or CT – or a combination of imaging modalities.

The winning submission technique was used in cardiac research to produce a high fidelity 3D tractography of the left ventricle heart muscle fibres of a mouse. The exceptional quality and accuracy of the cardiomyopathy research significantly advances the preclinical imaging sector in the battle to better understand heart muscle disease and treatment.

The submission from Sydney Imaging Core Research Facility came a close second place for the high quality MR abdominal image of a pregnant Sprague Dawley rat. The resulting image showed multiple embryonic implants and was ranked for image clarity, research interpretation and understanding.

The third place submission by the Centre Georges François Leclerc centre in France was a PET-MR whole body image of an eight week old BALB/c mouse showing a CT26 xenograft tumour. This displayed a clear breakdown of the metabolic, hypoxic and necrotic regions of the tumour. Additional axial images showed further localized information on the high and low uptake areas of 18F-FMISO using a 2T signal.

Nicky Doughty, CEO and Director at MR Solutions was delighted with the imaging submissions: “We want to thank our user group for all their imaging contributions. Researchers using our preclinical imaging systems are producing amazing results – this will help to progress our scientific understanding at molecular level and ultimately aid better treatment for patients in the clinic.”

MR Solutions’ preclinical MRI and PET systems won the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise in 2016 and 2019.