Research Projects

What is Ultrashort Echo Time (UTE) MRI?

UTE MRI techniques capture signals from tissues with short T2 decay, which are invisible using conventional MRI techniques. Short-T2 tissues include musculoskeletal (MSK) structures such as bone, tendon, ligament, meniscus, and deep cartilage, as well as myelin in the nervous system. Our team further investigate novel quantitative UTE techniques to advance clinical diagnosis across a range of diseases.

Development of Ultrashort Echo Time Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (UTE-QSM) in MSK System

Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) is a novel quantitative MRI technique that provides information about the chemical composition of the tissue microenvironment. We have developed and applied UTE-QSM to target short-T2 tissues in the musculoskeletal (MSK) system. In this project, we aim to further develop and optimize UTE-based QSM and apply it to musculoskeletal disorders, such as hemophilic arthropathy (HA).

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Development of Quantitative UTE Techniques for Osteoarthritis

In this project, we aim to develop a series of quantitative UTE techniques for the assessment of joint tissue changes. UTE double echo steady state (UTE-DESS) enables simultaneous mapping of T1, T2, and diffusivity in short-T2 tissues. UTE quantitative conductivity mapping (UTE-QCM) provides assessment of ionic content in intra- and extracellular spaces. We envision that these techniques will enable more sensitive MRI-based diagnosis and prognosis of osteoarthritis.

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Development of Direct Myelin Imaging

The hydrogens (1H, the source of signal in MRI) in myelin have extremely short T2s (< 1 ms), and therefore cannot be directly imaged with conventional MRI sequences, which typically have TEs of several milliseconds or longer. As a result, conventional sequences only provide an indirect assessment of myelin. In this project, we aim to develop direct myelin imaging techniques using inversion recovery (IR) prepared ultrashort echo time (UTE) , targeting neurological disorders such as Alzheimer disease (AD), multiple sclerosis, and epilepsy.

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UTE Lung Imaging

Ultrashort echo time magnetic resonance imaging has emerged as a promising technique for the direct visualization of the lung, which exhibits very short T2* relaxation times, unlike conventional MRI. We explore novel quantitative UTE-MRI techniques for the assessment of pulmonary disorders such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).