CMR Clinical Research Group - Leeds
RESEARCH
We are an interdisciplinary research group, incorporating clinical scientists and medical physicists. Over the past 10 years we have developed CMR methods for myocardial perfusion and coronary artery imaging and facilitated by our location in a large tertiary cardiology centre, have applied these techniques in clinical studies of both chronic coronary artery disease (CAD) and acute coronary syndromes.
Our main ongoing clinical research programme is the CE-MARC study (Clinical Evaluation of Magnetic Resonance in Coronary artery disease), funded by a 1.3m pound BHF programme grant. This is a single-centre longitudinal cohort study in patients with suspected CAD and by August 2009 we completed recruitment of the planned 750 patients. CEMARC is the largest prospective study to date to assess the diagnostic performance, prognostic relevance and cost-effectiveness of CMR for assessment of CAD compared with current diagnostic strategies.
Our most prominent methodological developments have been in myocardial perfusion CMR. In collaboration with Kozerke and Boesiger at the Institute for Biomedical Engineering in Zurich, Switzerland, we have developed high spatial resolution perfusion imaging methods. At an in-plane spatial resolution of close to 1mm (10 x better than with nuclear perfusion imaging and 2-3 times better than with conventional perfusion CMR), these methods promise novel insight into the physiology and pathophysiology of myocardial blood flow.
In a series of ongoing clinical studies we are examining the potential role of high resolution perfusion imaging for the assessment of epicardial coronary artery disease and myocardial microvascular pathology. A further interest of our group is the accurate and reproducible measurement of absolute myocardial blood flow in [ml/min/g], and the quantification of T1 and T2-relaxation. A current NIHR PhD studentship aims to optimise methods for motion compensation, localisation and quantitative analysis of myocardial perfusion CMR and will establish automated image segmentation and registration algorithms to improve the usability of quantitative perfusion analysis.
» Information for patients in the CE-MARC study
» General information about the research study
Want to see moving images of your heart?
We need healthy volunteers for a one hour MRI scan. A £20 contribution toward your travelling expenses will be made.
