ESHIᴹᵀ Educational Webinars 2024

ESHIᴹᵀ Educational Webinars 2024

In a series of online lectures, distinguished experts in the field of hybrid imaging will
share their knowledge about various modalities and subspecialties related to the fusion
of nuclear medicine and radiology as well as molecular and translational imaging.

Moreover, the recordings of the lectures are available on the website, so every active member
can enjoy and rewatch the lectures at their own convenience.

The webinars are for members only!

Webinars 2024

PCCT – New Insights into Cardiac Imaging

Date: April 16, 2024
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Isabelle Ayx (Munich, Germany)

Webinars 2024

Past Webinars 2024

Webinar 1 - Current status of PSMA-targeted imaging and therapy

Current status of PSMA-targeted imaging and therapy 

Date: March 26, 2024
Time: 18:00 (CET)
Speaker: Lena Unterrainer, Munich/Germany

Past Webinars 2023

Webinar 1 - Spectral CT in Oncology

Sectral CT in Oncology

Date: January 24, 2023
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Nils Große Hokamp (Cologne, Germany)

Description

The aim of this webinar is to review the basic principles of dual energy computed tomography (DECT) and the available technological approaches to DECT-imaging. Further, available reconstructions from DECT will be discussed with a particular focus towards their application in oncologic imaging.

In the course of this talk, fundamental concepts of spectral CT and image reconstruction will be reviewed. Followed by a case-based review on how which reconstruction can be used in daily operations with a particular scope on oncology. Based on recent studies, future directions and applications of spectral results in oncologic imaging will discussed. As any new technology has its limitations or drawbacks, possible obstacles for technological and diagnostic workflow will be referred. Last, a brief review on the most recent studies will try to give an outlook on current trends in DECT-applications in oncologic patients.

Concluding, the talk will provide guidance on the targeted deployment of spectral in oncologic imaging.

Learning Objectives

  • To understand the basic principles and technological approaches to dual energy computed tomograph
  • To become familiar with the different reconstructions that can be computed from a dual energy CT acquisition
  • To understand how spectral reconstructions can or may impact reporting routine in oncologic imaging now and in future.

About the speaker: Dr. Nils Grosse Hokamp

PD Dr. Nils Grosse Hokamp, PhD, MBA is senior attending radiologist in the Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and University Hospital Cologne. He also is appointed lecturer in Experimental Radiology and Radiology at the Medical Faculty of the University of Cologne. His clinical focus lies on abdominal and oncologic imaging and he serves as head of Computed Tomography Research. The University Hospital Cologne was among the first users of Spectral CT in clinical Routine starting May 2016 and based on his early hands-on experience he was invited fellow to Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH, USA for 12 months. His research group now focuses on quantitative imaging biomarkers obtained from spectral detector computed tomography, in particular iodine maps. To date, Dr. Grosse Hokamp has authored and co-authored >100 publications related on Spectral CT.

Webinar 2 - Assessment of tumoral heterogeneity in imaging

Assessment of tumoral heterogeneity in imaging

Date: February 13, 2023
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Matthias Frölich (Mannheim, Germany)

Description

In this talk, we will explore the use of imaging techniques for assessing the heterogeneity of tumor lesions, not only in terms of size, shape, but also in terms of lesional texture and interlesional variation. We will examine imaging modalities as well as quantitative image analysis methods and discuss how they can be used to improve diagnosis and treatment planning for cancer patients.

First, the importance of tumoral heterogeneity in resistance to treatment will be discussed. Second, the motivation for addressing tumoral heterogeneity in imaging will be explained. Third, tools and methodology as well as published evidence will be described. Finally, its value proposition for radiologists in the context of the whole treatment process, including interventional treatments, will be examined.

Learning Objectives

  • Summarize the concept of tumoral heterogeneity and its importance in oncologic treatment
  • Understand the importance of assessing tumoral heterogeneity in imaging for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning for cancer patients.
  • Describe the methodology for unraveling tumor heterogeneity in imaging
  • Understand the value radiology can provide by quantifying tumor heterogeneity for patients and therapy planning

About the speaker: Dr. Matthias Frölich

  • Clinician Scientist at Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine in University Medical Center Mannheim
  • Head of Research Group: Quantitative Imaging Markers with focus on Computed Tomography
Webinar 3 - Hybrid Imaging in hematologic malignancies

Hybrid Imaging in hematologic malignancies

Date: March 07, 2023
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Clemens Cyran (Munich, Germany)

Webinar 4 - Response Assessment in Lymphoma - The Role of Morphologic and Metabolic Imaging

Response Assessment in Lymphoma – The Role of Morphologic and Metabolic Imaging

Date: April 06, 2023
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Wolfgang Kunz (Munich, Germany)

Webinar 5 - Metabolic Imaging with MRI

Metabolic Imaging with MRI

Date: May 15, 2023
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Ferdia Gallagher (Cambridge, United Kingdom)

Webinar 6 - PET-CT in Infection and Inflammation

PET-CT in Infection and Inflammation

Date: June 19, 2023
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speakers: Sikandar Shaikh (Somajiguda, Indian)

Webinar 7 - Quo Vadis, Theranostics

Quo Vadis, Theranostics 

Date: September 09, 2023
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speakers: Jose L. Vercher Conejero (Barcelona, Spain)

Webinar 8 - Imaging and Biopsy Biomarkers to Promote Cancer Nanomedicine Clinical Translation

Imaging and Biopsy Biomarkers to Promote Cancer Nanomedicine Clinical Translation 

Date: September 19, 2023
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speakers: Twan Lammers (Aachen, Germany)

Webinar 9 - FAPI PET imaging in uro-oncology

FAPI PET imaging in uro-oncology 

Date: October 09, 2023
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speakers: Lena Unterrainer (Munich, Germany)

Webinar 10 - FAPI PET imaging in uro-oncology

FAPI PET imaging in uro-oncology 

Date: October 09, 2023
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speakers: Lena Unterrainer (Munich, Germany)

Webinar 11 - Concepts for translation imaging with machine learning

Concepts for translation imaging with machine learning

Date: November 23, 2023
Time: 18:00 (CET)
Speakers: Salvador Guillermo Castaneda Vega

Webinar 12 - Economic aspects in hybrid-imaging

Economic aspects in hybrid-imaging

Date: December 11, 2023
Time: 18:00 (CET)
Speakers: Felix Gerhard Gassert (Munich, Germany)

Past Webinars 2022

Webinar 1 - Multiscale microscopy to understand tumor-immune interactions

Multiscale microscopy to understand tumor-immune interactions

Date: April 28, 2022
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Bettina Weigelin (Tübingen, DE)

Description

Intravital microscopy (IVM) has revolutionized our understanding of single-cell behavior in complex tissues by enabling real-time observation of molecular and cellular processes in their natural environment. In preclinical research, IVM has emerged as a standard tool for mechanistic studies of therapy response and the rational design of new treatment strategies. For understanding immune function in the tumor microenvironment, higher harmonic generation, a label-free multiphoton imaging technique, provides tissue context and reveals guiding structures which steer immune cell migration and modulate T cell efficacy. Correlation of IVM with mesoscopic and macroscopic imaging modalities further promotes the translation of mechanistic insights gained by IVM into clinically relevant information. The webinar will highlight the role of IVM for understanding immune cell behavior in tumors and address the next frontier of multiscale microscopy to correlate local and systemic immunity.

Learning Objectives

  1. Understand the opportunities and challenges of intravital microscopy for deciphering immune function in tissues
  2. Understand the principles of multiphoton and higher harmonic tissue imaging
  3. Learn about the applications of intravital and multiscale microscopy in cancer immunotherapy research

Selected Publications

  1. Giampetraglia M and Weigelin B. Recent advances in preclinical intravital microscopy. Curr Opin Chem Biol. 2021. 63:200-208.
  2. Weigelin B, den Boer ATh, Wagena E, Broen K, Dolstra H, de Boer RJ, Figdor CG, Textor J, Friedl P. T cell-mediated additive cytotoxicity to effectively eliminate cancer cells. Nat Commun, 2021. 12, 5217.
  3. Weigelin B, Bakker GJ & Friedl P. Third harmonic generation microscopy for label-free imaging of tissue organization. J Cell Sci, 2016; 129(2): 245-55.

About the speaker: Prof. Dr. Bettina Weigelin 

Bettina Weigelin is a professor for Preclinical Imaging of the Immune System at the Werner Siemens Imaging Center at the University of Tübingen, Germany. In 2015, she obtained her PhD in Medical Sciences from the Radboud University of Nijmegen, The Netherlands, where she applied intravital multiphoton imaging to study cancer invasion and immune function in solid tumors.
With the support of a Rubicon Young Investigator Award (NWO), she spent 3 years as junior faculty (Instructor) at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA, where she used intravital microscopy to develop novel strategies for immunotargeting of prostate cancer bone metastasis. Her current research at the University of Tübingen combines dynamic intravital microscopy with whole-organ light-sheet microscopy and macroscopic PET/MR imaging to provide mechanistic insights into cellular therapies at the tissue and whole-body scale to identify strategies for improved cancer immunotherapies.

Webinar 2 - PET imaging evaluation in oncology: Tips & tricks for the clinical practice

PET imaging evaluation in oncology: Tips & tricks for the clinical practice

Date: May 25, 2022
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: André Dias, Aarhus/DK

Description

The programme of this webinar will introduce reading of oncology FDG-PET/CT in a clinical setting. It is aimed at oncologic imaging radiologists, radiologist residents/juniors, students and people who want to improve their skills in:

  • Reading and reporting FDG-PET/CT for diagnosing, staging and response evaluation in oncology
  • Increase awareness of common pitfalls

Learning Objectives

  1. Structure their reading and reporting of an FDG-PET/CT for oncology purpose
  2. Be aware of the most common pitfalls and how to avoid them

About the speaker: Dr. André Dias 

André Dias is a nuclear medicine physician originally trained in Portugal and working as a PET/CT staff specialist at Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark since 2015. Member of the Nuclear Medicine Society in Portugal and in Denmark, and of the European Nuclear Medicine Association where he has been a member of the Youth Committee and the Infection and Inflammation Commitee. Currently finishing a PhD on Dynamic Whole-Body Parametric PET/CT which he will be completing in the summer of 2022.

Webinar 3 - Hyperpolarised 13C MRI - Current and future applications

Hyperpolarised 13C MRI – Current and future applications

Date: June 23, 2022
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Ramona Woitek (Cambridge, UK)

Description

Hyperpolarised (HP) 13C-MRI using pyruvate is a translational metabolic imaging technique that has shown great promise preclinically especially in cancer imaging. The technique has now entered the field of clinical imaging research where different applications in patients with cancer are explored. Among the greatest potentials are early response assessment and patient stratification.
The webinar will explain the relevant technical background of HP 13C-MRI necessary to understand its clinical application and how it is complementary with other metabolic imaging techniques.

We will discuss the most important preclinical results and recently published translational studies with a special focus on early breast cancer studies and will highlight where the field of HP 13C-MRI is heading.

Learning Objectives

  1. To understand the most important technical aspects of HP 13C-MRI
  2. To understand the most important preclinical results using this technique
  3. To understand what the current state of clinical research using HP 13C-MRI is and what the most promising clinical applications are

About the speaker: Dr. Ramona Woitek

Dr Ramona Woitek is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Radiology of the University of Cambridge. Her research on breast and ovarian cancer focuses on hyperpolarised 13C-MRI, multimodal data integration and radiomics studies for early response assessment. She has authored over 50 medical research articles. Dr Ramona Woitek finished her undergraduate studies in Medicine in 2008 followed by a PhD, radiology specialty and breast imaging subspecialty training at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. She joined the University of Cambridge, UK, in 2017.

Webinar 4 - An update on PET tracers for oncology

An update on PET tracers for oncology

Date: September 08, 2022
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Luigi Aloj (Cambridge, UK)

Description

A major strength of radionuclide imaging probes is the high level of biological target specificity which they demonstrate, setting radionuclide imaging methods apart from other modalities used in routine clinical practice. Identifying and quantitatively assessing the anatomical distribution of a particular molecular target can be utilized to improve diagnostic pathways, provide insight on tumor histology, grade and degree of differentiation, yield staging information and may be exploited for treatment response assessment. In addition, cancer specific probes are more and more being used as vehicles to deliver lethal doses of radiation to cancer cells. PET plays a central role in this research given its high sensitivity, quantitative accuracy and spatial resolution. Some key areas of past, present and future of cancer PET tracer development and the implications for patient treatment and outcome will be reviewed in this webinar.

Learning Objectives

  1. Be familiar with the state of the art of novel PET radiopharmaceuticals used in the clinic
  2. Identify areas where early development is most likely to have future clinical impact
  3. Understand the opportunities and challenges of PET radiopharmaceutical development

About the speaker: Dr. Luigi Aloj

Luigi Aloj is a Nuclear Medicine Physician, Clinical Lead of the Nuclear Medicine and Radionuclide Therapy service of Cambridge University Hospitals and Academic Consultant in the Department of Radiology of the University of Cambridge. He has dedicated his clinical and research career to the use of radiolabeled drugs to study and treat patients with cancer. His research activity spans from very basic in vitro and preclinical radiopharmaceutical development and mechanistic studies to clinical applications in diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine. He has worked in this field for the past 30 years in various institutions in Italy, the United States and most recently in the UK.

Webinar 5 - Neuro-PET beyond oncology

Neuro-PET beyond oncology

Date: September 29, 2022
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Alexander Hammers (London, UK)

Description

PET has always played an important role in neurological research and patient management. The main clinical non-oncological indications are epilepsy (presurgical evaluation) and dementias / memory disorders.
Both those areas benefit from the additional anatomical and functional information provided by the MR component of PET-MR, which is vastly superior to the CT component in PET-CT. However, there are some practical issues to be considered. While the benefit of neuro PET-MR was initially based on theoretical considerations, there is now emerging evidence of clinical benefits of simultaneous PET-MR over and above PET-CT and post hoc coregistration of PET-CT with separately acquired MRI.
We will also discuss research applications, some of which are expected to enter clinical practice soon, e.g. MR-informed PET reconstruction, and others which exploit the simultaneity of PET-MR and enable novel insights.

Learning Objectives

  1. describe of practical issues when using brain PET-MR
  2. explain clinical uses of neuro PET-MR beyond oncology in
    • epilepsy (including paediatric applications)
    • the dementias
  3. discuss emerging research applications

About the speaker: Dr. Alexander Hammers

Alexander Hammers, a Neurologist, is Professor (Honorary Consultant) of Imaging and Neuroscience and Head of the King’s College London & Guy’s and St Thomas’ PET Centre at St Thomas’ Hospital (http://www.sthpetcentre.org.uk/).

He obtained an MD from the RWTH Aachen, Germany, in MR imaging of the hippocampus and a PhD from the University of London in PET investigations in focal epilepsy. His research area is medical imaging, in particular functional neuroimaging with quantified PET to understand mechanisms of neurological disease. Another area is structural neuroimaging using MRI and anatomical segmentation based on the large manually annotated Hammers brain atlas database (http://brain-development.org/brain-atlases/). The main areas of application of his research are the epilepsies, neurodegenerative diseases, and methodological developments.

While holding the Chair of Excellence in Functional Neuroimaging of the Neurodis Foundation in Lyon, France 2009-2014, he co-wrote the grants to obtain France’s first PET-MR and has continued expanding the uses of combined PET and MRI at King’s. The ultimate goal is to benefit individual patients through the clinical application of neuroscience. Examples include classification with machine-learning (artificial intelligence) techniques, and the combination of MRI, PET and EEG (list of publications at Google Scholar at https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=QFkozOIAAAAJ).

Webinar 6 - PET/MRI - a status update

PET/MRI – a status update

Date: October 20, 2022
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Lale Umutlu (Essen, DE)

 

Description

 

The successful introduction of simultaneous PET/MRI into clinical imaging over the past decade has demonstrated its strength as a highly valuable imaging tool for oncologic imaging. While the PET component enables the assessment of tumor metabolism, the integrated 3 Tesla MR scanner interchanges the CT component for anatomical correlation, enabling high-resolution MR imaging for functional and morphologic imaging. Apart from its comparable diagnostic potential to PET/CT for whole-body staging, PET/MRI has demonstrated its diagnostic superiority in soft-tissue-depending application fields such as prostate or cervical cancer, cardiac imaging or neuro-oncology. Furthermore, recent studies have shown its potential to serve as an extensive platform for radiomics and AI applications. This presentation aims to provide an overview on recent, established and future PET/MRI applications.

 

Learning Objectives

 

• Understand the diagnostic capabilities of PET/MRI
• Understand the role of PET/MRI in comparison to established imaging modalities
• Understand new applications of PET/MRI involving new tracers and radiomics or AI

 

About the speaker: Dr. Lale Umutlu

 

Prof. Dr. Lale Umutlu is a professor of radiology and the Vice Chair of the Department Diagnostic and Interventional and Neuroradiology of the University Hospital Essen in Germany. After her habilitation on body imaging at 7 Tesla, the focus of her scientific work has shifted towards hybrid imaging and PET/MRI in particular over the past 10 years. With a particular focus on the implementation and inter-modality validation of PET/MRI, she has been heavily involved in the establishment of PET/MRI in clinical oncological imaging. More recent studies of her research group targeted on the application of computational algorithmic analyses, by means of radiomics and AI in PET/MRI to try and improve patient care.

Webinar 7 - Multispectral optoacoustic tomography: What's the status of clinical translation?

Multispectral optoacoustic tomography: What’s the status of clinical translation

Date: November 24, 2022
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Moritz Wildgruber (Munich, DE)

 

Description

 

Optoacoustic Imaging has continuously developed during the last years and first pilot trials for clinical translation are completed and ongoing. This webinar aims to provide a summary on the current status of clinical translation of optoacoustics with a focus on vascular disease, metabolic disorders and cancer.

 

Learning Objectives

 

• To understand the principles of optoacoustic imaging
• To learn about the different areas of clinical translation
• To understand problems and challenges for implementing optoacoustic imaging in clinical translation

 

About the speaker: Porf. Dr. Moritz Wildgruber

 

Moritz Wildgruber, MD PhD, is a clinical radiologist and vice chairman of the Department of Radiology at LMU Munich, Germany. His clinical work is focused on image-guided interventions. His research is focused on a better understanding of the role of the innate and adaptive immune system in vascular and oncologic diseases.

Webinar 8 - Debate: The "Good, Bad and Ugly" of merging Nuclear Medicine and Radiology

Debate: The “Good, Bad and Ugly” of merging Nuclear Medicine and Radiology

Date: December 8, 2022
Time: 18:00 (CET)
Speakers: Johannes Czernin (Los Angeles, USA), Mathias Prokop (Nijmegen, NL)

Past Webinars 2021

Joint Webinar - AI in multimodality imaging of cancer

AI in multimodality imaging of cancer

Date: March 17, 2021
Speaker: Clemes Cyran, Munich/DE

Description

Multimodality diagnostic imaging aims to characterize tumor pathophysiology by integrating multidimensional complementary data using morphological, functional and molecular features. Hybrid imaging with multitracer PET and multiparametric MRI demonstrate great potential for non-invasive tumor phenotyping and the characterization of underlying pathophysiological processes with multimodality-based models beyond morphological analysis and classical texture features. Major challenges remain with regard to the preprocessing of multimodality images, for fusion algorithms in combining data at feature level, classifier level or decision level as well as the appropriate choice of the learning model. High potential DNN (deep-learning neural networks) without feature designing process, however, are very data hungry projecting towards structured image data biobanks and present increased complexity with the design of optimal models. From a systematic perspective, particular challenges arise how multi representations can be fused and explored most effectively. The implementation of automated multimodality cancer imaging could proof as a highly effective diagnostic method, carrying the potential to significantly reduce morbidity and mortality by optimized therapy guidance in cancer. The integration of efficient diagnostic tools based on multimodality hybrid imaging into comprehensive clinical algorithms in cancer has the potential to significantly lower therapeutic costs. The anticipated socio-economic impact of powerful diagnostic data on our healthcare systems promotes the forthcoming of integrated diagnostics by healthcare providers that will demand this concept as a prerequisite in line with the implementation of population-based pay-4-performance reimbursement systems.

 

Learning Objectives

  • To learn about functional and molecular imaging methods that contribute to the non-invasive characterization of tumor pathophysiology in vivo beyond morphology
  • To get acquainted with the current AI applications in multimodality cancer imaging for integrating morphological, functional and molecular parameters to guide tumor therapy
  • To discuss the key challenges how multi representations of imaging parameters are fused and explored most effectively to provide a structured medical imaging data stream towards integrated diagnostics

 

About the speaker: Prof. Dr. Clemens Cyran

Prof. Dr. Clemens Cyran is Professor of Radiology at the Faculty of Medicine and Vice Chair of the Department of Radiology of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany. After graduation from Medical School in Munich, Prof. Cyran assumed a position as postdoctoral research fellow at the Center for Pharmaceutical and Molecular Imaging, University of California San Francisco, from 2006 to 2007 with a research focus on imaging biomarkers of therapy response in experimental oncology. Prof. Cyran completed his residency in radiology in Munich in 2013 and is also board certified in diagnostic nuclear medicine.

Between 2017 and 2019 Prof. Cyran served as vice chair of the Department of Radiology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich and was section chief of the hybrid imaging department. Following a period in private practice, Prof. Cyran returned to academia in July 2020 reassuming his position as Vice Chair at the Department of Radiology at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich.

The research focus of Prof. Cyran is the development and validation of imaging biomarkers of therapy response in oncology using multimodality hybrid imaging techniques, including MRI, multi-tracer PET and optical fluorescence imaging, with a strong translational focus. Current projects investigate methods of automated image analysis of digital molecular imaging data using artificial intelligence based algorithms as well as AI-based analytics for multidisciplinary diagnostic data in integrated diagnostics.

 

Webinar 1 - PET/CT and PET/MR hybrid imaging of rectal cancer

PET/CT AND PET/MR HYBRID IMAGING OF RECTAL CANCER

Date: March 25, 2021
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Katrine Riklund (Umeå, SE)

Description

This webinar will provide an overview of hybrid imaging with PET/CT and PET/MR in colorectal cancer. The use of hybrid imaging in relation to other imaging modalities and the correlation to the disease will be discussed. Recent results and developments will be introduced.

 

Learning Objectives

  • To understand the clinical impact of hybrid-imaging in relation to other imaging modalities
  • To understand the clinical impact of hybrid imaging in differnt stages of rectal cancer.
  • To learn about evaluation of hybrid imaging

 

About the speaker: Prof. Dr. Katrine Riklund

I am Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Umeå University since 1 July 2016 and function as surrogate to the Vice-Chancellor. I am responsible for research and doctoral education in medicine, natural sciences and technology. My assignment also includes responsibilities for third-stream activities and internationalisation of research.

Biography:
I took my Degree of Master of Science in Medicine at Umeå University in 1988. Four years later, I completed my PhD with the doctoral thesis Monoclonal antibodies against PLAP and cytokeratin in radioimmunoscintigraphy and radioimmunotherapy. In 2002, I became professor of diagnostic radiology at Umeå University and senior consultant physician at Imaging and Functional Medicine at the Västerbotten County Council.

I have held the post as deputy head of department and head of department of the Department of Radiation Sciences for several years. From 2008–2011, I was deputy dean at the Faculty of Medicine, and in 2011–2017 I was programme director of the Medical Programme at the Faculty of Medicine.

Furthermore, I have had a number of posts in steering committees and project groups, and have been member of several councils and committees, such as for instance the Strategic Council for Education, Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging and the steering committee for interactive, creative environments.

Among my international endeavours, my role as chairperson of one of the world’s largest scientific associations in radiology, the European Society of Radiology is one example. I have also been president of one of the world’s largest radiology conferences – the European Congress of Radiology – and was deeply involved in starting the international association the European Society for Hybrid Imaging – Molecular and Translational. I have been active in the work aimed at the protection against radiation in the ICRP, International Commission on Radiological Protection. I am also honorary member of the French radiology society – Société Française de Radiologie – and the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Research:
My research revolves around visualising biochemical processes in the human body. In my research, I use so-called Hybrid Imaging – an advanced method for medical imaging using a combination of positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), so-called PET/CT and PET/MRI.

My research interest primarily focuses on visualising dopaminergic functions in the brain to increase the understanding of processes in the ageing brain, dementia and Parkinson’s disease. I also study how best to improve visualisation of the spread of cancer and response to treatment, particularly prostate cancer and colorectal cancer.

 

Webinar 2 - Theranostics in neuroendocrine tumors - Basics and Update

Theranostics in neuroendocrine tumors – Basics and Update

Date: April 29, 2021
Speaker: José Vercher Conejero (Barcelona, ES)
Moderator: Clemens Cyran (Munich, DE)

Description

Neuroendocrine neoplasms are a group of tumors with great heterogeneity and clinical, biochemical and biological complexity. It is considered a rare tumor, although its incidence has increased progressively in recent decades, something that could be related to improvements in diagnostic techniques and greater knowledge of the disease.

There are currently several therapeutic options available and because these types of tumors are usually slow to progress, most patients end up undergoing a good portion of the available therapies. However, to know which is the best sequence, it must be borne in mind that the strategy to be followed will depend on multiple factors, such as tumor extension, tumor load, location of the primary tumor, expression of somatostatin receptors or aggressiveness of the same determined mainly by Ki67 values ​​and clinical growth rate.

Theranostics in nuclear medicine is the use of molecules attached to radioactive isotopes for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. In neuroendocrine tumors, the ligands used are able to bind to some 68Ga-labeled somatostatin receptors for diagnostic use in the initial assessment of these patients and with 177Lu for tumor cell destruction in metastatic and inoperable patients. This technique allows us to select patients and treat them based on the confirmed presence of certain receptors, improving the likelihood of clinical benefit and reducing the risk of unnecessary treatment.

Furthermore, interesting advances are being made with the development of new radiopharmaceuticals in both diagnostic and therapeutic aspects that will allow us to increase diagnostic precision and therapeutic effectiveness.

 

About the speaker: Dr. José Vercher-Conejero

Dr José L Vercher-Conejero is a nuclear medicine physician in the Department of Nuclear Medicine/PET Unit at the University Hospital of Bellvitge (Barcelona, Spain). During his training period, for his merits he was awarded a scholarship by the Official College of Physicians of Valencia and invited by the Mount Sinai Medical Hospital of New York to perform a rotation in the Department of Radiology.

He has been working at the University and Polytechnic Hospital La Fe in Valencia (Department of Nuclear Medicine – Clinical Area of Medical Imaging), being also a member of the “Biomedical and Imaging Research Group – (GIBI230)”, and carried out a fellowship in the Department of Radiology at UH Hospital/Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland (Ohio, USA), specializing in PET/MRI and digital PET mainly.

His interests are in oncological PET/CT, PET/MR, SPECT/CT, FDG and Non-FDG radiopharmaceuticals, immunotherapy, radiomics and radiometabolic therapy (PRRT for NETs, endocrine disorders and endocrine oncology, treatment of bone metastases, microspheres with Y-90 for the treatment of intrahepatic tumour lesions, among others).

Webinar 3 - Novel tracers for prostate cancer - the future of PSMA PET

Novel tracers for prostate cancer – the future of PSMA PET

Date: May 27, 2021
Speaker: Matthias Eder (Freiburg, DE)

Description

Following the completion of a successful Phase II clinical study and the initiation of a Phase III study in the field of targeted radioligand therapy of prostate cancer, radiopharmaceuticals have recently gained significant visibility in translational oncology. Subject of these studies are radiolabeled small molecule inhibitors of the prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA). In first clinical applications they have shown a significant influence on the therapeutic management and patient care in metastatic and hormone refractory prostate carcinoma. This webinar will provide an overview of radiopharmaceuticals and novel developments based on these PSMA-inhibitors. Beside imaging and therapy in Nuclear Medicine radiopharmaceuticals have recently shown promising results in image-guided surgery as dual-labeled probes for the detection and comprehensive resection of tumor tissue.

 

Learning objectives:

  • To learn about the development and clinical translation of novel radiopharmaceuticals targeting prostate cancer
  • To understand the clinical impact of theranostics
  • To learn about novel dual-labeled tracers for image-guided surgery

 

About the speaker: Prof. Dr. Matthias Eder

Matthias Eder is professor of Radiopharmaceutical Development at the German Cancer Consortium and University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany. As Biotechnologist at the German Cancer Research Center he successfully developed PSMA-targeting radiopharmaceuticals for imaging and therapy of prostate cancer. During his academic career he received several honors and awards such as the “Berson-Yalow Award” and the “Image of the year award” of the Society of Nuclear Medicine. His research interests include novel peptide theranostics for imaging and personalized treatment of tumors.

Webinar 4 - Metabolic imaging with MRI in oncology

Metabolic imaging with MRI in oncology

Date: June 24, 2021
Speaker: Ferdia Gallagher (Cambridge, UK)

Description

Hyperpolarized carbon-13 MRI (13C-MRI) is an emerging molecular imaging method for studying cellular metabolism, which can complement the information provided by conventional proton MR spectroscopy (1H-MRS). The technique allows non-invasive measurements of tissue metabolism in real-time. The most promising probe used in conjunction with hyperpolarized MRI is 13C-labelled pyruvate.

 

Learning objectives:

  • 1H-MRS can be used to detect several mitochondrial mutations found in cancer
  • Pyruvate is metabolized into lactate in normal tissue in the absence of oxygen, but in tumours this occurs very rapidly even in the presence of oxygen.
  • Tumour lactate labelling has also been shown to increase with tumour grade in breast, prostate and renal cancers
  • Results from many animal models and early clinical data have shown that there is a reduction in the metabolism of pyruvate following successful treatment with chemotherapy.

 

Dr. Gallagher’s Webinar Teaser:

Hyperpolarised carbon-13 spectra and images from breast cancer patients following the injection of hyperpolarised pyruvate: higher lactate was detected in the higher-grade triple negative and grade 3 tumours compared to the grade 2 tumours.

About the speaker

Dr Ferdia Gallagher is an academic radiologist and CRUK-funded Senior Research Fellow who leads the Clinical Molecular Imaging Group in the Department of Radiology. His laboratory develops new functional and molecular imaging methods to detect cancer and early response to therapy, with the aim of translating these techniques into humans.

His team is particularly interested in methods to probe cancer metabolism non-invasively and he leads the clinical hyperpolarised carbon-13 MRI programme in Cambridge. Hyperpolarised MRI is an emerging method to non-invasively assess tissue metabolism using pyruvate as a probe to visualise tumour lactate formation and we are currently studying this technique in a number of human tumours. We have established a bespoke pharmacy facility on site to enable this and are developing new molecules for use in patients. The group is also interested in the application of proton spectroscopy to study tumour metabolism, as well as other multinuclear and multimodality approaches such as sodium MRI and PET/CT. We are applying these methods to monitor treatment response in a range of settings, including the use of immunotherapy. We are also studying novel cell labelling approaches to complement more conventional approaches to monitor immune infiltration into tumours.

Dr Gallagher studied medicine at both the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford before training as a radiologist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. He undertook a PhD in Biochemistry in Cambridge as part of a CRUK Clinical Research Training Fellowship. He has previously been awarded both a Clinician Scientist and an Advanced Clinician Scientist Fellowship from CRUK. He is currently a University Reader in Molecular imaging and an Honorary Consultant Radiologist.

Webinar 5 - Radiomics in Molecular Imaging

Radiomics in Molecular Imaging

Date: July 29, 2021
Speaker: Gary Cook (London, UK)

Description

The lecture will cover the basic definitions related to radiomics in molecular imaging, will describe some of the radiomic methods and the the areas where there is the potential for clinical impact.

 

Learning objectives:

  1. Basic definitions of radiomics and related terms.
  2. Types of radiomic analysis.
  3. Clinical areas where radiomic analysis may be of benefit.

 

Prof. Cook’s Webinar Teaser:

18F-FDG PET – ROIs of 2 separate NSCLCs (left), voxel intensity histograms and radiomic parameters (middle) and 3D surface plots representation (right).

Which tumour is likely to have the poorer prognosis?

About the speaker

Professor Gary Cook MBBS, MSc, MD, FRCR, FRCP
Professor of PET Imaging, Cancer Imaging Dept, Schoolof Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London.
Honorary Consultant, Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Trust

Gary Cook trained in radiology and then nuclear medicine in London. He started the PET service at the Royal Marsden Hospital and after 11 years returned to King’s College London and Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospitals as a clinical academic and head of the Cancer Imaging Department as well as a nuclear medicine physician in the KCL and Guy’s & St Thomas’ PET Centre. His research interests include imaging bone metastases, measuring tumour heterogeneity, evaluation of novel tracers and biomarkers and refining multimodality imaging for diagnosis and response assessment in oncology.

Webinar 6 - Cost-effectiveness in hybrid imaging - how to cope with the demands

Cost-effectiveness in hybrid imaging – how to cope with the demands

Date: August 26, 2021
Speaker: Matthias Frölich (Mannheim, DE)

Description

This webinar will provide an overview cost-effectiveness analysis methodology and published evidence on the economic advantages of hybrid imaging. A special focus will be set on estimation of long-term cost-savings and effectiveness gains by earlier detection of cancer. Also, interfaces for the positioning of hybrid imaging in a competitive economic environment will be discussed and the importance of the topic for diagnostic imaging elucidated.

 

Learning objectives

  • To understand the basics of common economic evaluation techniques for diagnostic imaging
  • To gain insights into recently published economic evaluations of hybrid imaging techniques like PET/CT and PET/MRI
  • To appreciate the need for cost-effectiveness studies initiated by imaging professionals to support policy decision processes towards advanced imaging techniques

 

About the speaker

PD Dr. Matthias Frölich is a clinician scientist and research group leader at the Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at University Medical Centre Mannheim. His research focus topics include economic aspects of diagnostic imaging and quantitative imaging markers in cancer.

Webinar 7 - Hybrid Imaging in Melanoma

Hybrid Imaging in Melanoma

Date: September 30, 2021
Speaker: Christian Reinert (Tübingen, DE)

Description

Metastasized melanoma is associated with a poor prognosis. A clear survival benefit has been identified for patients treated by complete metastasectomy, whereas a simple reduction of tumor masses without achieving complete resection of metastases does not improve the prognosis. If metastases are non-resectable, a systemic therapy should be initiated without delay. Precise imaging plays an essential role in directing patients to an individualized treatment. PET/CT has been proved to be more accurate than other imaging methods in staging of advanced melanoma and highly influences clinical management decisions.

This webinar will provide an overview of the current role of hybrid imaging in oncological staging of melanoma patients.

 

Learning Objectives

  • To review the variability of metastatic disease in melanoma patients
  • To understand the role of PET/CT in diagnostic workup in melanoma
  • To identify clinically relevant imaging biomarkers associated with patient outcome

 

About the speaker: Dr. Christian Reinert

Dr. Christian Philipp Reinert (EDiR) is a radiologist in the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at the University Hospital of Tübingen (Germany) after completing his medical studies in 5/2016.

His clinical interests are in multimodal oncological imaging with focus on PET/CT and PET/MRI.

In the research field, he analyses quantitative imaging biomarkers with respect to their clinical and prognostic value in different cancer types. Another research focus is to evaluate the effectiveness of PET/CT by measuring its influence on clinical decision making.

Webinar 8 - Understanding PET/CT imaging in biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer

Understanding PET/CT imaging in biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer

Date: November 18, 2021
Speakers: Jochen Walz (Marseille, FR), David Zogala (Prague, CZ)
Host: Eugene Teoh (Oxford, UK)

This educational webinar is funded by Blue Earth Diagnostics Ltd and has been organised in collaboration with ESHIMT.

Part 1:
Clinical imaging needs of the urologist in patients with BCR

Assoc.-Prof. Jochen Walz
Head of Urology Department, Institut Paoli-Calmettes Cancer Centre, Marseille, France

Dr Walz is the Head of Urology at the Institut Paoli-Calmettes Cancer Centre in Marseilles, France and is a board certified urologist.  He trained in Germany, France and Canada, and specialises in uro-oncology. He is the co-editor in chief of European Urology Open Science and is a member of the EAU scientific office.

 

Part 2:
Current status of PET tracers in BCR

Dr David Zogala
Head Physician at the Institute of Nuclear Medicine of General University Hospital and the First Medical Faculty Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Dr Zogala is a Nuclear Medicine Physician, working as a Head Physician at the Institute of Nuclear Medicine in Prague, Czech Republic. He is the current President of the Czech Society of Nuclear Medicine. Dr Zogala is a board certified nuclear physician in Czech Republic and Germany.

 

Webinar description

The landscape for biochemical recurrent (BCR) prostate cancer is challenging.  Recurrence will occur in around 30% of patients following treatment for primary prostate cancer, with conventional imaging methods (CT, MRI and bone scans) of limited value in the detection of areas of recurrence.  Physicians treating patients with BCR of prostate cancer face a difficult set of decisions in getting the right treatment for these patients. PET/CT imaging in recurrent prostate cancer has been shown to add to the results of conventional imaging, influencing management decisions.

This webinar aims to improve the understanding of PET imaging in biochemical recurrence (BCR) of prostate cancer from the perspective of both the Urologist and Nuclear Medic.

The faculty of this webinar is highly experienced in the imaging and management of patients with prostate cancer and they will be sharing their up-to-date knowledge.  Our host and guest speakers are all experts in their respective fields of Urology and Nuclear Medicine.

 

Learning Objectives

  • To gain an understanding of the clinical imaging needs of the urologist in patients with BCR
  • To understand the current options for PET imaging in patients with suspected BCR
  • To gain an insight into the future PET options for use in BCR

 

Host: Dr Eugene Teoh

Dr Eugene Teoh, MBBS MRCP FRCR DPhil,
VP Clinical Development and EU Medical Director, Blue Earth Diagnostics Ltd, Oxford, UK

Eugene Teoh is the VP Clinical Development and EU Medical Director at Blue Earth Diagnostics, where he works mainly in clinical development. Eugene is a qualified radionuclide radiologist, graduated in medicine from Imperial College London, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Radiologists and Member of the Royal College of Physicians.

Past Webinars 2020

Webinar 1 - NOVEL HYBRID IMAGING APPLICATIONS IN HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES

NOVEL HYBRID IMAGING APPLICATIONS IN HEMATOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES

Date: February 20, 2020 – 17:30 (CET)
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Clemens Cyran (Munich, DE)

 

Description

Morphological imaging faces frequent challenges in guiding therapy of hematological malignancies due to limitations in sensitivity and specificity. PET-based functional and molecular imaging biomarkers with high diagnostic accuracy carry significant potential for guiding therapy in primary staging, therapy monitoring and detection of recurrence. 18F FDG PET/CT has an established role in the therapy management of FDG-avid lymphomas, however with well documented limitations in other entities of hematological malignancies such as CLL.

Novel specific PET tracers are under development for hematological malignancies that aim at improved pathophysiological characterization of disease and personalized therapy guidance. In this context, specific theranostic tracer twins using the identical ligand for diagnosis and treatment are proposed for radioligand therapy.

 

Learning objectives

  • To understand the standard-of-care morphological and functional imaging concepts in hematological malignancies and their limitations
  • To know about specific PET tracers for imaging hematological malignancies
  • To become acquainted with theranostics concepts in radioligand therapy for hematological malignancies

 

About the speaker

Clemens C. Cyran, MD
Professor of Radiology
Die Radiologie
Munich, Germany

Department of Radiology
Ludwig-Maximilians-University
Munich, Germany

Prof. Cyran completed his residency in radiology in Munich in 2013 and is also board certified in diagnostic nuclear medicine. Prof. Cyran is currently chair of the Education Committee of the European Society for Hybrid, Molecular and Translational Imaging.

 

Webinar 2 - RADIOMICS IN MOLECULAR IMAGING (CANCELLED)

CANCELLED – RADIOMICS IN MOLECULAR IMAGING

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Gary Cook (London, UK)

Due to the current CoVid-19 pandemic and the urgent need for medical professionals, Prof. Cook will have to divert his time to clinical duties. Therefore, he will not be able to hold the lecture as planned and we have to cancel the webinar.

We are sure that you are disappointed, but we are working to find a suitable replacement date and will let you know as soon as we found one.

Webinar 3 - UPDATE ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN SPECT/CT

UPDATE ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN SPECT/CT

Date: April 23, 2020
Speaker: Dr. John Dickson (London, UK)

 

Description

Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) and hybrid SPECT/CT systems are well established and widely available technologies that have formed the underpinning of nuclear medicine imaging for decades. Yet, until recently, the technology and applications of SPECT and SPECT/CT have changed little, with much of the energy and innovation in nuclear medicine imaging focussed on PET/CT and PET/MR.

In recent years, there has a been a silent and growing revolution in SPECT technology and its applications. In this webinar, developments in SPECT software and hardware will be showcased, together with how these developments will impact the future of nuclear medicine imaging and therapy.

 

Learning Objectives

  • To develop an understanding of current developments in SPECT software around reconstruction, corrections and post processing.
  • To appreciate how SPECT hardware is moving beyond one or two detectors based on scintillation crystals and photomultiplier tubes, to expanded imaging geometries and semiconductor detector technologies.
  • To understand how developments in SPECT technology are revolutionising the capabilities and application of SPECT in both nuclear medicine imaging and therapy.

 

About the speaker

John C. Dickson Ph.D.
Head of Clinical Nuclear Medicine Physics UCLH
Associate Professor in Medical Physics UCL
Institute of Nuclear Medicine
London, UK

John completed his Ph.D. in quantitative neuroimaging in 1999 and qualified as a clinical medical physicist in 2001. He is currently Head of Clinical Nuclear Medicine Physics at University College London Hospitals, and is an Honorary Associate Professor in Medical Physics at UCL. As a clinical medical physicist, John was heavily involved with the introduction of SPECT/CT, PET/CT and PET/MR into clinical use when the modalities were in their infancy, and with his team, continues to support innovation in multimodality imaging. In addition to his clinical interests, John is a keen academic and educator with over 70 peer reviewed papers, book chapters, books and on-line teaching resources. John sits on numerous UK and international committees, and acts as a consultant for various commercial and non-commercial organisations.

Webinar 4 - UPDATE ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN SPECT/CT

18F-FDG PET/CT IN BREAST CANCER: EVIDENCE-BASED RECOMMENDATIONS

Date: May 28, 2020
Speaker: Dr. José Vercher-Conejero (Barcelona, ES)

 

Learning objectives:

  1. To understand the underlying biology of breast cancer relevant to 18F-FDG-PET/CT.
  2. To identify the role of 18F-FDG-PET/CT imaging in different clinical. scenarios of breast cancer based on the most recent recommendations.
  3. To review the potential of novel radiopharmaceuticals and other hybrid imaging techniques for personalized medicine in breast cancer.

 

Teaser Case:

69-year-old woman with two episodes of deep venous thrombosis undergoing a V/Q Study, where a lung mass is identified. An 18F-FDG PET / CT is requested for pulmonary characterization and staging due to high suspicion of malignancy.

What is your diagnosis?

  1. Breast cancer with multiple metastases (incl. lung)
  2. Lung cancer with multiple metastases (incl. breast)
  3. Lung cancer with multiple metastases and early breast cancer
  4. Breast cancer with multiple metastases and lung cancer

 

 

About the speaker:

Dr José L Vercher-Conejero is a nuclear medicine physician in the Department of Nuclear Medicine/PET Unit at the University Hospital of Bellvitge (Barcelona, Spain). During his training period, for his merits he was awarded a scholarship by the Official College of Physicians of Valencia and invited by the Mount Sinai Medical Hospital of New York to perform a rotation in the Department of Radiology.

He has been working at the University and Polytechnic Hospital La Fe in Valencia (Department of Nuclear Medicine – Clinical Area of Medical Imaging), being also a member of the “Biomedical and Imaging Research Group – (GIBI230)”, and carried out a fellowship in the Department of Radiology at UH Hospital/Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland (Ohio, USA), specializing in PET/MRI and digital PET mainly.

His interests are in oncological PET/CT, PET/MR, SPECT/CT, FDG and Non-FDG radiopharmaceuticals, and radiometabolic therapy (PRRT for NETs, endocrine disorders and endocrine oncology, treatment of bone metastases, microspheres with Y-90 for the treatment of intrahepatic tumour lesions, among others).

From March 2019, Dr Vercher-Conejero is the Hybrid Imaging Ambassador for Spain for the European Society for Hybrid, Molecular and Translational Imaging (ESHIMT).

 

Webinar 5 - PET/CT FOR RADIOTHERAPY PLANNING

PET/CT FOR RADIOTHERAPY PLANNING

Date: June 29, 2020
Time: 18:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Dr. Malene Fischer (London, UK)

 

Description

This online lecture will elaborate why and how PET imaging can be applied for radiotherapy planning. A variety of clinical examples will illustrate the impact of PET for radiotherapy planning.

 

Teaching Points

  • Why should we use PET for exernal beam radiotherapy planning?
  • Can PET be applied for direct planning – and how?
  • Clinical examples and impact of PET for radiotherapy planning

 

What does this image of an orange have to do with the webinar topic?

Send your guess to office@eshi-society.org and join the webinar to find out!

About the speaker

Malene Fischer is a senior clinical lecturer and honorary consultant at the King’s College London & Guy’s and St Thomas’ PET Centre since June 2018 coming from a similar post at Rigshospitalet, University of Copenhagen in Denmark.

Malene is a medical doctor and nuclear medicine specialist. The common thread of her research is the exploration and implementation of hybrid imaging, PET/CT and PET/MR, in diagnosing and treatment of patients with cancer, literally from lab to bed-side including cost-effectiveness analysis. Malene obtained her PhD from the University of Copenhagen exploring the detection limit of the PET/CT technology as well as pioneer clinical studies on PET/CT in staging and therapy evaluation of patients with small cell lung cancer. Her Doctorate (DMSci, an old-fashioned Danish academic degree) was based on the world’s first randomized clinical trial on PET/CT in staging of patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Although based at KCL Malene is PI of a Danish national randomized trial exploring the value of PET/CT and liquid biopsies for surveillance of patients with lung cancer.

A common denominator for her research is multi-disciplinary collaboration and on-going projects include PET/MR for radiotherapy planning and AI-based imaging analysis. Together with colleagues at KCL and Copenhagen Malene is part of HYBRID a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Innovative Training Network and European collaboration under Horizon 2020 on hybrid imaging.

Webinar 6 - MULTIMODALITY IMAGING OF PROSTATE CANCER: MANAGEMENT IMPACT ON CLINICAL THERAPY

MULTIMODALITY IMAGING OF PROSTATE CANCER: MANAGEMENT IMPACT ON CLINICAL THERAPY

Date: July 16, 2020
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Frederik Giesel (Heidelberg, DE)

 

Learning objectives

  • To understand the clinical impact of PSMA-imaging in contrast to other imaging modalities (i.e. CE-CT, mpMRI)
  • To understand the clinical impact of PSMA-PET/CT in BCR, local recurrence and primary staging in prostate cancer
  • To explore the impact of theranostics using 177Lu and 225Ac-PSMA-ligand in prostate cancer

 

Dr. Giesel’s eye-catcher of the session

Source: Kesch et al., JNM 2017, PMID: 28473595

Source: Giesel et al., JNM 2018, PMID: 29419475

About the speaker

Dr. med. Frederik L. Giesel

After graduating from medical school in Mainz and Heidelberg/GER Dr. Giesel went to the National Institutes of Health (NIH, Bethesda, USA) for his clerkship. The specialization (resident) began at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg with scientific visits to Texas University, USA and Sheffield University, UK, where he carries until today teaching activities in the field of imaging science.

During his residency, he also completed a two year MBA-program at the Frankfurt School of Finance/ GER with several courses outside the country (London, Dubai, Tokyo, Boston). With the completion of specialist training (board certification) and habilitation he took a further specialization in the field of nuclear medicine at the University Hospital Heidelberg/ GER. Through his still close connection with the basic medical subjects (pre-clinical school) Dr. Giesel established the first to combine a series of seminars “Virtual Anatomy and Pathology” at the University of Heidelberg, the anatomy and pathology with diagnostic imaging.

Today, Dr. Giesel is Associated Professor of Radiology and Vice Chair in Nuclear Medicine at the University Hospital Heidelberg/GER and also is appointed at the University of Sheffield and Columbia University, New York. Recently, he was visiting professor at the Stanford University, USA and Yonsei University, South Korea. Dr. Giesel has published over 130 scientific work and holds several patents in the field of imaging science and is board certified in radiology and nuclear medicine. Furthermore, he acquired over the last years over 2.5 Mio Euro research funds in the field of imaging sciences and image post processing. Today, Dr. Giesel leads the Phase I/II Multi-Center Study of a new PET-Tracer which has been recently introduced into the clinical environment for prostate cancer patients (Prostate Specific Membrane Antigen [PSMA]) and also is involved in the introduction of new theranostic probes like FAP-ligands in translational research [FAPI-46 anf FAPI-74].

Webinar 7 - IMAGING BIOMARKERS IN ONCOLOGY

IMAGING BIOMARKERS IN ONCOLOGY

Date: September 21, 2020
Speaker: Ángel Alberich-Bayarri (Valencia/ES)

 

Learning objectives

  • To understand how radiomics features and imaging biomarkers can be seamlessly extracted in clinical routine
  • To learn the strategies to integrate multiple types of data to generate nosologic maps
  • To see how patient-level data can be analyzed together with other patients analysis in a wide cohort to extract population-level conclusions through data mining and visual analytics

 

Description

The extraction of radiomic features and functional imaging biomarkers in a seamless way in clinical routine, and with the use of AI techniques will be explained. The combination of imaging biomarkers and radiomics features for the generation of nosological maps that can be used to automatically detect the disease, guide biopsy and follow-up treatment response. The webinar will cover from patient-level analysis to population data-mining.

 

About the speaker

Telecommunications Engineer with specialisation in electronics by the Polytechnic University of Valencia (2002-2007) and PhD in Biomedical Engineering (2010) by the same university for his research on the application of advanced image processing techniques to magnetic resonance imaging.

In the professional aspect he is scientific-technical director of the Biomedical Imaging Research Group of the Polytechnics and University Hospital La Fe, as well as founder and director of the spin-off company QUIBIM (Quantitative Imaging Biomarkers in Medicine), dedicated to the advanced analysis of medical images. He previously held the position of R & D engineer (2007-2012) and coordinator of biomedical engineering (2012-2014) of Grupo Hospitalario Quirón, the leading private healthcare provider in Spain.

In the research field, he is the author of more than 60 scientific articles in prestigious international journals and inventor of 3 patents. He is also the author of more than 80 communications to international congresses, editor of 2 international books and author of 15 book chapters. He has participated in a large number of research projects and clinical trials. He is an active member of several scientific societies, among which stands out his participation as a member of the Board of Directors of the European Society of Medical Imaging Informatics (EUSOMII) and member of the e-Health Committee of the European Society of Radiology. He is also a member of the management team of the e-Health working group of the Official College of Telecommunications Engineers.

Webinar 9 - CONTRAST-ENHANCED ULTRASOUND: RECENT PRECLINICAL DEVELOPMENTS AND ESTABLISHED CLINICAL APPLICATIONS

CONTRAST-ENHANCED ULTRASOUND: RECENT PRECLINICAL DEVELOPMENTS AND ESTABLISHED CLINICAL APPLICATIONS

Date: November 19, 2020
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Fabian Kiessling (Aachen, DE)

 

Description

This webinar will provide an overview of functional, molecular and theranostic contrast-enhanced ultrasound applications. It will introduce the different contrast agent types, the ultrasound detection methods as well as advanced analysis procedures to get functional and molecular data including new superresolution ultrasound applications. Furthermore, initial preclinical and clinical results on using contrast-enhanced ultrasound to  modulate biological barriers and to promote drug accumulation in tumors are reported.

 

Learning Objectives

  • Properties of different microbubbles and detection methods for contrast-enhanced ultrasound
  • Analysis methods to quantify perfusion and to acquire molecular data
  • Principle of superresolution ultrasound
  • Status of theranostic ultrasound / sonopermeabilization

 

Teaser Case

A patient with triple negative breast cancer was examined with contrast-enhanced ultrasound to track response of neoadjuvant chemotherapy. For this purpose a conventional ultrasound device was used (Aplio 500, Canon Medical Systems, Otawara, Japan) and 0.5 ml SonoVue (Bracco, Milan, Italy) were manually injected. Data were processed using the Motion Model Ultrasound Localisation Microscopy (mULM) super-resolution ultrasound method. mULM not only provided a so far not achievable visualization of the fine vascular tumor network but also numerous new functional vascular characteristics, such as flow profiles in individual microvessels. The representative images show a B-mode image with the tumor ROI marked in red (upper left), a maximum intensity over time projection of microbubble accumulation (bottom left), the mULM parameter map of vessel architecture (upper right) and the velocities in the individual vessels (bottom right) (image adapted from Dencks et al. IEEE Trans Ultrason Ferroelectr Freq Control; 2019; 66:517-526)

About the speaker:

Professor Dr. Fabian Kiessling is leading the Institute for Experimental Molecular Imaging at the RWTH-University in Aachen, where he develops novel diagnostic and theranostic concepts, probes and technologies.

Fabian Kiessling studied medicine and graduated at the University of Heidelberg. Until the end of 2002, he worked as resident in the Department of Radiology at the German Cancer Research Center. In 2003 he changed to the Department of Medical Physics in Radiology as leader of a Molecular Imaging group.

In parallel, he did his clinical training and received the board certification as radiologist in 2007. He is author of more than 280 publications and book chapters, received several research awards, among those the „Emil Salzer Price for Cancer Research” and the “Richtzenhain Price” and was appointed to the editorial board of several journals including Radiology, European Radiology, American Journal of Nucelar Medicine and Molecular Imaging, and Nanotheranostics.

Furthermore, he founded the invivoContrast GmbH together with Professor Matthias Bräutigam, which is distributing diagnostic probes for the preclinical market.

Past Webinars 2019

Webinar 1 - HYBRID IMAGING OF BONE METASTASES

 

HYBRID IMAGING OF BONE METASTASES

Date: January 14, 2019
Time: 17:00 (CET)
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Gary Cook (London, UK)

Learning objectives

  1. Understanding the underlying biology of bone metastases relevant to imaging methods
  2. Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of SPECT/CT, PET/CT (various tracers) and WB-DWMRI
  3. Understanding the role of imaging in detection and response assessment of bone metastases

 

Prof. Cook’s Teaser Case

A woman with metastatic breast cancer. 18F-FDG PET scan before (left) and 8 weeks after commencing chemotherapy (right). Is this progressive disease, stable disease or partial response?

Teaser Case

About the speaker

Gary CookProfessor Gary Cook MBBS, MSc, MD, FRCR, FRCP
Professor of PET Imaging, Cancer Imaging Dept, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London.
Honorary Consultant, Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Trust

Short biography
Gary Cook trained in radiology and then nuclear medicine in London. He started the PET service at the Royal Marsden Hospital and after 11 years returned to King’s College London and Guy’s & St Thomas’ Hospitals as a clinical academic and head of the Cancer Imaging Department as well as a nuclear medicine physician in the KCL and Guy’s & St Thomas’ PET Centre. His research interests include imaging bone metastases, measuring tumour heterogeneity, evaluation of novel tracers and biomarkers and refining multimodality imaging for diagnosis and response assessment in oncology.

Webinar 2 - PET/MRI Instrumentation

 

PET/MRI INSTRUMENTATION

Date: February 20, 2019
Time: 17:00 (CET)
Speaker: Dr. Ivo Rausch (Vienna, Austria)

 

Lerning objectives:

  • Understanding the basics of PET/MRI and it’s technology
  • Understanding the concept of attenuation correction in PET/MRI
  • Seeing some examples of advanced applications of PET/MRI

About the speaker:

Ivo-Rausch-150x150Ivo Rausch, PhD, studied Technical Physics at the University of Technology Vienna with a focus on radiation protection and nuclear physics and graduated in 2011. He joined the Division of Nuclear Medicine, Medical University of Vienna as a scientific employee in 2013. Thereafter, I. Rausch joined the Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering (CMPBMT), where he also accomplished the PhD program in Medical Physics. Further, he completed the university course “Medical Physics”, which is compliant with the EFOMP and EU guidelines for the education of medical physics experts.

Today, he is a post doc researcher in the Quantitative Imaging and Medical Physics group at the CMPBMT. His interests relate to quantitative hybrid imaging in nuclear medicine with a special focus on PET/MRI and PET/CT. In close collaboration with the Division of Nuclear Medicine, he is engaged in several (clinical) studies and educational activities. He is a member of the working group “Medical Physics and Radiation Protection” of the Austrian Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (OGNMB), member of the ESHIMT research committee and board member of the Austrian Society of Radiation Protection in Medicine (VSMÖ).

Webinar 3 - HYBRID IMAGING OF CNS MALIGNANCIES - CLINICAL IMPACT

 

HYBRID IMAGING OF CNS MALIGNANCIES – CLINICAL IMPACT

Date: March 27, 2019
Time: 17:00 (CET)
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Sotirios Bisdas (London/UK)

 

Learning Objectives

  • To identify the key indications for hybrid PET/MRI in CNS tumour imaging.
  • To recognize the hallmark hybrid PET/MRI findings in primary and treated brain tumours.
  • To understand the diagnostic and prognostic clinical value of hybrid PET/MRI in tumour routine imaging.

 

Teasing Case

45-year-old male patient with right frontal GBM (first diagnosis 2/2014) undergoes chemoradiation and subsequently follow-up MRI in 5/2014 demonstrating an enhancing, centrally necrotic mass with extensive perifocal oedema. The patient experienced also clinical deterioration. The reporting neuroradiologist and the multidisciplinary neuro-oncology team considered an early relapse as the most likely diagnosis (preliminary progressive disease according to the modified RANO critaria) and recommended close surveillance with PET/MRI for further assessment and imaging-guided patient management. Follow-up PET/MRI with methionine and advanced MRI sequences was performed in 7/2014.

 

About the speaker

IMG_0138Professor Sotirios Bisdas is Consultant Neuroradiologist and MRI Lead in the Lysholm Department of Neuroradiology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, Associate Professor in Neuroradiology at UCL, and Professor of Radiology at University of Tübingen, Germany.

He has completed a post-doctoral scholarship in Neuroradiology Research at the Medical University of South Carolina, USA and holds a MSc. degree in “Advanced Oncology” from University of Ulm, Germany. His fields of expertise include advanced and functional MRI, ultra-high field (7T and 9.4T) MRI, and PET/MRI in brain diseases (neurooncology, dementia, epilepsy) and in head and neck cancer.

He has followed clinical neuro-PET/MRI since its advent and his first publication in brain tumours has been more than 240 times cited. He is also Clinical Lead of the Neurooncology flagship programme at the UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering. Widely published with more than 130 PubMed-indexed authorships, he is also Editor and Editorial Board Member of several leading journals in Radiology and Neuroradiology, member of the Executive Committee of the ESHNR, and the ESR Research Committee.

Webinar 4 - COST EFFECTIVENESS OF HYBRID IMAGING

 

COST EFFECTIVENESS OF HYBRID IMAGING

Date: April 24, 2019
Time: 17:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Dr. Barbara Malene Fischer (Copenhagen/DK)

 

Description

The use of imaging in oncology – especially PET/CT – has been increasing with unprecedented speed during the last decade. Does this increasing use of PET/CT add additional burden to the already strained health care budget or could a smarter use of the technology counteract the unstoppable costs associated with cancer treatment? What about PET/MR? This talk will discuss methods for assessing the cost-effectiveness of PET/CT and present examples from the field of oncology.

 

Learning objectives

  • Discuss why clinicians often consider hybrid imaging as the expensive choice and whether the notion of PET/CT as an expensive technology is fair
  • To obtain knowledge of basic concepts of health economy
  • Present and discuss examples of cost-effectiveness studies on the use of PET/CT in oncology.

 

About the speaker

Dr. Fischer, MD, PhD, DMSc is a consultant in PET imaging at Guy’s & St. Thomas Hospital in London, Senior Clinical Lecturer at Kings College London and chief physician, associate professor at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital.

Dr. Fischer has performed research within the field of hybrid imaging and oncology for a decade. The common thread of her research being the exploration and implementation of functional imaging in cancer treatment, mainly PET/CT and PET/MR.

 

Webinar 5 - QUANTIFYING TUMOUR RESPONSE IN PET – TECHNICAL CAVEATS

QUANTIFYING TUMOUR RESPONSE IN PET – TECHNICAL CAVEATS

Date: May 29, 201917:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Thomas Beyer (Vienna/AT)

 

Description – Webinar 5

Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a suitable tool to describe tumours and assess tumour response to therapy. This presentation will highlight key aspects of PET quantification for clinical indications in oncology. To date, PET no longer comes as a stand-alone imaging modality but in combination with CT or MR. While such dual-modality imaging modalities offer a number of logistical and performance advantages they also challenge existing concepts of PET quantification, even in case of simple concepts, such as the standardized uptake value (SUV).

During the course of this presentation we will briefly rehearse the concepts of PET/CT and PET/MR and introduce the ideas behind tumour (response) quantification. State-of-the-art, PET-based imaging technologies and recent developments in instrumentation and software will be presented in the context of key quantification parameters. This includes the awareness for pitfalls in quantifying tumour response, such as arising from CT contrast agents or patient motion (to be juxtaposed by solutions). Caveats specific to PET/CT and PET/MR will be presented and discussed in light of the guidelines for FDG-PET/CT imaging (available) and PET/MRI (not yet available but WIP). One major caveat towards PET quantification in oncology is the shortage of test-retest data.

Lastly, this presentation will point to the potential for improving PET quantification (incl. repeatability and reproducibility) by utilizing the conjoined information from PET and CT and/or MRI. This will include also the utilization of machine learning approaches in the not-to-distant future.

In conclusion, the ability to quantify PET information has been with us since the inception of PET. It is on us and our willingness to work in a cross-specialty setting and to adopt guidelines as to how accurate we want and can quantify.

 

Learning Objectives

  1. To motivate the role of imaging as an inexpensive tool in cancer patient management
  2. To rehearse the basic principles of quantitative PET
  3. To review potentials and pitfalls of quantification in PET/CT and PET/MR
  4. To appreciate recent developments in the quantitative, hybrid imaging and beyond

 

Webinar Teaser

About the speaker

Thomas Beyer holds a PhD in Physics and is co-developer of combined PET/CT imaging systems. He has a background in research and project management in academia and imaging industry.

Thomas graduated in Physics from the Leipzig University (Germany) and got his PhD in Medical Physics from Surrey University (UK). During his US-based studies he became involved in the development and clinical testing of the first PET/CT prototype (1992-2000) before joining Siemens/CTI PET Systems as an International PET/CT specialist.

In 2002 he became a Research Associate in Nuclear Medicine and Radiology and PET/CT project manager at Essen University Hospital (Germany). In 2006 he became Teaching Professor (Priv.-Doz.) for Experimental Nuclear Medicine at Essen, and joined timaq medical imaging Inc, a Zurich-based Imaging CRO. In 2007 Thomas moved to Philips Medical Systems as International Manager Clinical Science Nuclear Medicine. In 2008 he set up a Zurich-based consulting company for expert advise in cross-modality imaging and applications. He is appointed full professor of Physics of Medical Imaging at the Medical University of Vienna from March 2013.

Thomas is a member of various national and international Medicine organizations, a founding member of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Physics Committee, the European Society of Hybrid Imaging (ESHI) and past Head of the New Technology working group at the Association of Imaging Producers and Equipment Suppliers (AIPES).

Webinar 6 - HYBRID IMAGING IN GYNAECOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES

HYBRID IMAGING IN GYNAECOLOGICAL MALIGNANCIES

Date: June 26, 2019
Time: 17:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Dr. Tara Barwick (London/UK)

Learning Objectives

  1. To understand the role of FDG PET/CT imaging in the multimodality investigation of gynaecological cancers (focussing on cervix, endometrial and ovarian cancers): during staging, response assessment & disease relapse.
  2. To review potential pitfalls of FDG PET/CT related to gynaeological malignancies.
  3. To be aware of evidence for PET/MRI in gynaecological malignancies.
  4. To review future directions.

 

Teaser case

55 yr old female with ovarian cancer relapse with known serosal disease related to sigmoid colon (red arrows). What do the green arrows on the FDG PET/CT represent? Is it normal physiological bowel activity or peritoneal disease?

About the speaker

Dr Tara Barwick MBChB MSc MRCP FRCR

Tara Barwick is a dual accredited Consultant in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust London and Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London.  Dr Barwick completed Radiology training at Bart’s and The London followed by subspecialist Nuclear Medicine and PET training at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. Her main clinical and research interests are hybrid imaging with SPECT/CT and PET/CT, particularly in the oncological imaging setting. Dr Barwick is active in research with over 45 peer reviewed publications and several book chapters. She is co-editor of the book PET/CT in Gynecological Cancer. Barwick T, Rockall A (Eds) (Springer 2016) Part of Hybrid Imaging series under the BNMS.

Webinar 7 - CLINICAL RELEVANCE OF PSMA PET/CT: AN OVERVIEW AND UPDATE

CLINICAL RELEVANCE OF PSMA PET/CT: AN OVERVIEW AND UPDATE

Date: September 18, 2019
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Clemens Cyran (Munich/DE)

 

Learning objectives

  • To be acquainted with the most relevant clinical scenarios and indications where PSMA imaging is used to guide therapy
  • To know about the different PSMA ligands available, 68Ga-PSMA widely used, 18F-PSMA available for better logistics and higher volume
  • To be acquainted with theranostics concepts using PSMA

Teaser Case

18F-PSMA PET/CT – 72 yo male, history of prostate carcinoma and radical prostatectomy with regional lymphadenectomy.

 

Your Diagnosis?

  1. Soft tissue metastasis of the prostate carcinoma in the left cheek
  2. Lymph node metastasis of the prostate carcinoma
  3. Ectopic salivary gland tissue
  4. Soft tissue sarcoma of the masseter muscle

About the speaker

Clemens C. Cyran, MD is Professor of Radiology, Section Chief Hybrid and Molecular Imaging and vice-chair at the Department of Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany.

Prof. Cyran completed his residency in radiology in Munich in 2013 and is also board certified in diagnostic nuclear medicine. Prof. Cyran is currently chair of the Education Committee of the European Society for Hybrid, Molecular and Translational Imaging.

Read Prof. Cyran’s CV here.

Webinar 8 - PET/MRI IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES: IS THERE TRUE ADDED VALUE?

PET/MRI IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES: IS THERE TRUE ADDED VALUE?

Date: October 30, 2019
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Matthias Gutberlet (Leipzig/DE)

Description

The use of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and especially Cardiac Magnetic Resonance Imaging (CMR) in Cardiovascular Disease as stand-alone methods is established since several years. However, it´s not proven, if the combination of both modalities is more than the sum of its parts, yet. The Webinar will go through the recent literatureguidelines and will try to answer the question, if there is really true added value?

 

Learning Objectives:

  • To learn more about the potential and already existing indications for PET/MRI imaging in the cardiovascular system
  • To know the advantages and disadvantages
    of PET/MRI systems
  • To get knowledge of the technical principles
    of a PET/MRI system

 

Teaser Case (from: Nensa F et al. (2018) Eur Radiol):

Patient with a tumor in the right AV-groove. Your diagnosis?

  • Haematoma of the AV-groove
  • Thrombosed aneurysm of the RCA in the AV-groove
  • Angiosarcoma of the heart in the AV-groove
  • Haemangioma of the AV-groove

About the speaker

Pic_Matthias GutberletProf. Dr. Matthias Gutberlet is Specialist in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine and currently is Head of the Department for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at the University Leipzig. He is also Past-President of the European Society of Cardiac Radiology (ESCR).

Clinical Work:
Beside diagnostic imaging and treatment of diseases of the cardiovascular system our department provides the radiological service for the Park-Klinikum Leipzig with a main focus on the muscoloskeletal system, gastroenterology and pulmology. We are part of a “Onkozert” certified “Darm- and Pankreaszentrum” since 2008. My multimodality experience in oncology startet at the Charité, Campus Virchow, including PET/CT reading and was continued as a reviewer for Parexcel-Berlin in 2005/2006. At the University Leipzig I am still involved in clinical and research Activities at the PET/MR-system.

Research:
I was mainly involved in research projects dealing with Doppler-ultrasound, contrast agents, MDCT and MRI of the cardiovascular system, using the techniques of dynamic CTA, Dual Energy, iterative reconstruction, coronary CTA, MR-angiography, MR-volumetry, MR flow-measurements and MR-perfusion in humans and animal models. I am one of the project leaders of the German Competence Network for Congenital Heart Disease since 2003.

Recent studies of our group were dealing with dose reduction in CT, imaging and post-processing before and after TAVI and EVAR, MR viability assessment in comparison to SPECT, PET, MRI at 3.0T and studies on the assessment of inflammation by MRI. Furthermore, we have gathered the first experiences in PET/MR and interventional MRI.

Webinar 9 - PERFUSION IMAGING - AN UPDATE ON BASICS, DCE ACQUISITION AND ANALYSIS

PERFUSION IMAGING – AN UPDATE ON BASICS, DCE ACQUISITION AND ANALYSIS

Date: November 27, 2019
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Charles Cuenod (Paris/FR)

 

Description

All pathological conditions induce changes in tissue microcirculation that can be detected and analyzed by our non-invasive imaging modalities (MRI, CT, and US) using the dynamic contrast enhancement technique (DCE-imaging). The local changes in perfusion can be used as “imaging biomarkers” for the diagnosis of lesions and treatment optimization.
To be able to efficiently acquire and analyze the DCE-imaging sequences a basic knowledge of the microcirculation, the behavior of the contrast media within the tissues and the concepts of DCE mathematical modeling are needed.
The webinar will review the concepts of microcirculation, tissue perfusion as well as the requirements for DCE-MRI and DCE-CT acquisition and analysis.

 

Learning Objectives:

  1. to understand the general concepts of normal capillary network and microcirculation
  2. to understand the concept of DCE imaging, and the importance of the temporal resolution and the total acquisition time.
  3. to understand the respective contribution of perfusion and interstitial diffusion through capillary permeability
  4. to distinguish between the different types of analysis of the enhancement curves: global -visual, semi-quantitative and qualitative
  5. to understand why the qualitative analysis of DCE-imaging is the optimal goal, but which is difficult to fully access in clinical practice.

 

About the speaker

Prof. Charles A Cuenod, MD., Ph.D.

Charles A Cuenod is a full professor of “Radiology and Medical imaging” at the Georges Pompidou European Hospital (HEGP) in Paris. He did his MD. studies at the Necker School of Medicine in Paris, and his Ph.D. studies at Paris Descartes University. Dr. Cuenod followed the LEADER program at the National Institutes of Sciences in Bethesda US and worked at the “NMR in vivo center” in the fields of Diffusion Spectroscopy and Functional MRI.

His clinical interests are focused on cancer and gastro-intestinal imaging using MRI and CT, and he has participated in the development of several imaging procedures including MRcholangio-pancreatography (MRCP), Entero-CT, Entero-MRI, and anorectal-MRI. He also practices highly technical procedures in interventional imaging.

As the co-founder of the ‘Laboratoire de Recherche en Imagerie’, which is nowadays part of the PARCC research center (Inserm U970). He focuses his research on tissue microcirculation especially in tumors and in the liver. He has developed new mathematical models to quantify tissue perfusion with dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI and CT (DCE-MRI and DCE-CT).

He has more than 150 journal publications. He has been the Editor of RBM (Journal of Biomedical Engineering)

He is actively involved in the French Society of Radiology (SFR) and the European Congress of Radiology (ECR) and has been in charge of several working groups and scientific sessions on perfusion and molecular imaging.

Webinar 10 - OPTICAL METHODS IN HYBRID IMAGING

OPTICAL METHODS IN HYBRID IMAGING

Date: December 18, 2019
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Weninger (Vienna/AT)

Wolfgang J Weninger1,2, LF Reissig1,2, J Günther1, SH Geyer1,2, A. Walter2

1 Division of Anatomy, Medical University of Vienna & MIC
2 Correlated Multimodal Imaging Node Vienna (CMI)

 

Learning Objectives

  • To get an overview on microscopic and advanced optical imaging methods
  • To understand multiscale microscopy and optical imaging
  • To get to know the role of multimodal Imaging in biomedical research
  • To learn about BioImaging Austria

 

Description

Visualising the morphology, function and composition of organisms and biological materials is the fundament for researching the mechanisms of developmental disorders, for identifying the role genetic and biomechanic factors play in pre- and postnatal tissue formation and remodeling, for characterising and diagnosing pathologies and for evaluating the success of therapeutic regimes. Thus, modern biology, biomedicine and medicine steadily develop and increasingly employ highly innovative imaging methods. Many of them are based on two- (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) microscopy and optics.

These microscopic and optical imaging techniques usually are restricted to visualising structures and events in a rather narrow range of resolution. Consequently, the various techniques are frequently combined to increase the span of resolution, which is required for comprehensive diagnosis of complex pathologies and for characterizing the mechanisms and processes underlying health and disease. Such hybrid imaging approaches or imaging pipelines are not restricted to combining microscopy and optical imaging methods, but frequently integrate methods used in in routine radiology and nuclear medicine.

The Lecture will introduce hybrid imaging as a multimodal multiscale imaging approach, which integrates microscopic, optic, radiologic and functional imaging methods. It will focus on the challenges of building such hybrid imaging pipelines and discuss their potential, applications and outcomes. Finally, it will introduce the BioImaging Austria Initiative (www.bioimaging-austria.at), which offers free access to experimental and fully functional imaging pipelines.

 

About the speaker

Univ. Prof. Dr. Wolfgang J. Weninger

 

Know-how and research interests

The Weninger Lab is interested in researching the mechanisms regulating pre- and postnatal development. Its focus rests on cardiovascular morphogenesis and remodelling. As side-lines lab associates develop and improve episcopic 3D-imaging techniques and conduct traditional anatomic research. Group members are experienced in anatomical microscopic and macroscopic dissection, traditional and advanced histology, episcopic 3D-imaging of embryos and tissue samples, and digital volume data analysis. The Weninger Lab provides the infrastructure for all these techniques.

 

Research topics

 

Techniques and infrastructure of the research group
  • Episcopic 3D data generation (Epi3D, EFIC, HREM)
  • Volume data visualization hard- and software
  • Traditional histology
  • Hard tissue imaging
  • Access to imaging pipelines via BioImaging Austria (CMI)

 

5 selected publications

Placental malformations are highly prevalent in embryonic lethal mouse mutants
Perez-Garcia V, Fineberg E, Wilson R, Murray A, Mazzeo CI, Tudor C, Sienerth A, White JK, Tuck E, Ryder EJ, Gleeson D, Siragher E, Wardle-Jones H, Staudt N, Wali N, Collins J, Geyer S, Busch-Netwich EM, Galli A, Smith JC, Robertson E, Adams DJ, Weninger WJ, Mohun T, Hemberger M
Nature (2018), 555: 463-468

The dermal arteries in the cutanous angiosome of the descending genicular artery
Tinhofer IE, Zaussinger M, Geyer SH, Meng S, Kamolz LP, Tzou CJ, Weninger WJ
J Anat (2018), 232: 979-986

High throughput discovery of novel developmental phenotypes
Dickinson ME, Flenniken AM, Ji X, Teboul L, Wong MD, White JK, Meehan TF, Weninger WJ, et al.
Nature (2016), 537(7621): 508-514

Deciphering the mechanisms of developmental disorders (DMDD): a new programme for phenotyping embryonic lethal mice.
Mohun T, Adms DJ, Baldock R, Bhattacharya S, Copp AJ, Hemberger M, Houart C, Hurles ME, Robertson E, Smith JC, Weaver T, Weninger WJ
Dis Model Mech (2013) 6:562-566

Phenotyping transgenic embryos: A rapid 3D-screening method based on Episcopic Flourescence Imaging Capturing (EFIC)
Weninger WJ & Mohun TJ
Nature Genet (2002) 30: 59-65

Webinario en español - ESTADIFICACIÓN TUMORAL CON PET/RM

 

ESTADIFICACIÓN TUMORAL CON PET/RM

Fecha: 16 de enero de 2019
Hora: 17:00 (CET)
Conferenciante: Dr. José Ramón García Garzón (Barcelona, España)

 

Objetivo del seminario

El objetivo de este seminario es analizar el valor adicional de los estudios PET/RM en la estadificación de los procesos oncológicos. Su desarrollo requiere cambios en la práctica diagnóstica, en la realización de las exploraciones y en la interpretación de los estudios. Únicamente esta visión multidisplinar justifica la implementación de los estudios híbridos.

  1. Implementación de flujos de trabajo de los estudios PET/RM
  2. Indicaciones de la PET/RM en la estadificación tumoral
  3. Obtención de parámetros cuantitativos multiples
  4. Justificación de los equipos PET/RM

 

Acerca del conferenciante

FotoLicenciado en Medicina y Cirugía por la Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona en 1988, Especialista en Medicina Nuclear, diploma de experto en radiofarmacia. Fellow centrado en estudios PET en MD Anderson, Houston, Tx-USA en 1993. European Board Nuclear Medicine en 2008. Master en servicios sanitarios por ESADE en 2002-2003. Doctorado cum Laude en 2015  por la Universidad de Barcelona “11C-Colina PET/TC en el cáncer de próstata”. Desde 2006 Jefe de servicio de la unidad PET/TC-RM de CETIR-Ascires. Tesorero de la SCMNiM, miembro del comité redactor de la REMNiM y del comité ejecutivo del FEBNM de la UEMS. Miembro de honor de la SEDIA-SERAM.

 

Snippet_2 Snippet Snippet_3

 

Special Webinar - PET/CT IN INFECTION AND INFLAMMATION

PET/CT IN INFECTION AND INFLAMMATION

Date: November 20, 2019
Speaker: Dr. Sikandar Shaikh (Hyderabad, India)

 

Description

PET/CT has evolved as an important diagnostic modality also for other areas than oncology in recent times. The newer applications include pathologies which were/are not diagnosed in earlier stages. For example, it has become the modality of choice for diseases like prosthetic joint infection or pyelonephritis aortoaortitis. With the advent of newer radiotracers also the horizon of clinical applications of PET/CT has increased drastically. This webinar will be presenting various applications of PET/CT in infection and inflammation.

 

Learning Objectives

  • PET-CT is well established in evaluation of many Infective/Inflammatory pathologies.
  • Most of the presented applications are universal but some will differ on the geographical context
  • In Indian subcontinent this applies to various entities especially pyrexia of unknown origin or tuberculosis.
  • The concept of disease management has changed significantly by the use of PET-CT in these scenarios.

 

Teaser case

42 Years old male with right femoral head prosthesis replacement three months back. Came with hip pain gradually increasing. FDG PET-CT was done.

Your Diagnosis?

  • Prosthesis break
  • Prothetic infection
  • Soft tissue injury
  • No significant abnormality

About the speaker

Dr. Sikandar M Shaikh
DMRD, DNB, MNAMS, FICR, EDiR
Consultant PET-CT and Radiology.     

Yashoda Hospitals
Somajiguda
Hyderabad 500082
Telangana, INDIA

Past Webinars 2018

Webinar 1 - CONCEPTS FOR TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH IN ONCOLOGICAL IMAGING

Date: January 31, 2018
Time: 17:00 (CET)
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Konstantin Nikolaou (Tübingen, Germany)

Description:

In the era of functional and molecular imaging, delivering information beyond morphology, size and simple metrics, multiparametric
and multimodality imaging becomes ever more important. Also, in times of ever more complex therapies, e.g., applying molecular and immuno-therapies in many oncological entities, the need for standardized, reproducible, robust and (semi-)quantitative imaging biomarkers to assess or even predict therapy response is huge. The develpment of such biomarkers is only feasible if the underlying pathophysiology, e.g. of a tumor responding and reacting to therapy, is understood and if (surrogate) imaging biomarkers are developed in a translational fashion, bringing new modalities and imaging features from “bench-to-bedside” in its truest sense.
In this webinar, examples, methods and systematic approaches for such translational research in the development of imaging biomarkers in oncology will be explained and discussed.

Learning Objectives:

– to explain methods and systematic approaches for translational research in the development of imaging biomarkers in oncology
– to discuss underlying pathophysiologies and the meaning of surrogate markers derived from multi-modality imaging
– to speculate on future developments in the field

About the speaker:

Pic_Konstantin NikolaouKonstantin Nikolaou is Chairman of the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology in the Department of Radiology at the Eberhard-Karl-University in Tübingen, Germany. Prof. Nikolaou received his MD from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich in the year 2000, where he also became an Assistant Professor at the Department of Clinical Radiology, University Hospitals Munich, after finalizing his PhD-thesis on the topic of modern cardiovascular computed tomography techniques in 2007.

After working as a section chief of CT/PET-CT and MRI at the same department, he became Vice Chair of the Department of Clinical Radiology at the Ludwig-Maximilian-University in Munich in April 2007.

He also is former president of the European Society of Molecular and Functional Imaging in Radiology (ESMOFIR) and treasurer for the European Society of Cardiac Imaging (ESCR), Member of the Research Committee of the European Society of Radiology (ESR) and Honorary Member of the Greek Society of Radiology.

Prof. Konstantin Nikolaou joined the Eberhard-Karl-University Tübingen in April 2014 as Chairman of the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology. His main fields of interest are multimodality and multi-parametric imaging modalities in oncology as well as non-invasive imaging of cardiovascular diseases.

Webinar 2 - HYBRID IMAGING IN BREAST TUMORS

Date: February 21, 2018
Time: 17:00 (CET)
Speaker: Katja Pinker-Domenig MD, PhD, EBBI(New York, USA)

Learning Objectives

1. To understand the principle of multimodality multiparametric functional imaging of breast tumours with MR/PET.
2. To identify the potential and challenges of multiparametric breast MR/PET using different quantitative functional parameters.
3. To realise the potential of novel tracers for personalised medicine.

Description

W2_caseCancer development is characterised by several biological capabilities or so-called hallmarks, which comprise sustaining proliferative signalling, evading growth suppressors, resisting cell death, enabling replicative immortality, inducing angiogenesis, and activating invasion and metastasis. With medicine entering the genomic era, personalised approaches towards treatment, which require a deeper understanding of the hallmarks of cancer, are being explored and ultimately will be implemented in patient care. To match advanced therapeutic strategies in the era of personalised medicine, diagnostic tests must be equally multilayered and complex to identify the relevant underlying processes of cancer development and progression.

In this context, multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography/MRI (PET/MRI), which, in addition to morphologic changes, can simultaneously assess a multitude of functional cancer-related processes, have emerged as exceptionally powerful, versatile, and precise imaging techniques. Multiparametric functional imaging of the breast aims to simultaneously quantify and visualise multiple functional processes at the cellular and molecular levels to further elucidate the development and progression of breast cancer and the response to treatment.

There is evidence that multiparametric functional imaging, using different MRI and PET parameters, provides detailed information about the hallmarks of cancer and, thus, improves the diagnostic accuracy and assessment of response to neoadjuvant therapy. Multiparametric functional MRI provides a variety of techniques to assess functional tumour characteristics such as diffusion-weighted imaging, dynamic contrast-enhanced imaging and multi-nuclei magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging. PET/(MRI) detects and quantifies radiolabelled tracer substances, which allows the measurement of specific functional characteristics of breast cancer such as increased glucose uptake, tumour hypoxia or hormonal receptor expression. This talk aims to summarize the current and emerging applications of PET/MRI in breast tumours.

About the speaker:

Katja Pinker-Domenig, MD, PhD, EBBI

Dr. Pinker-Domenig is an Associate Attending at the Department of Radiology/ W2_katja-pinkerBreast Service at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center/ Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, USA, Associate Professor of Radiology at the Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided Therapy/Division of Molecular and Gender Imaging at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria and Affiliated Faculty at the Department of Scientific Computing at Florida State University, Tallahassee, USA. She serves as an Executive Board Member of the European Society of Breast Imaging (EUSOBI), Deputy Editor of the “Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging” and is editorial board member in several journals such as of “Insights into Imaging”, “European Radiology”, “Breast Care” and “British Journal of Radiology/ Case Reports“.

She is an expert in translational and clinical breast and oncologic gender imaging. Her research interests focus on molecular breast and oncologic gender imaging with advanced multiparametric high-field/ultra-high-field MRI and PET/MRI and radiogenomics in breast cancer. She has received recognition in terms of international prizes including the EUSOBI Carla Boetes Young Investigator Award 2014. She has obtained several national and international research grants in molecular imaging in oncologic gender imaging and has published more than >100 peer-reviewed papers in oncologic imaging.

Webinar 3 - HYBRID IMAGING IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE – WHAT DO THE GUIDELINES SAY?

Webinar 3

HYBRID IMAGING IN CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE – WHAT DO THE GUIDELINES SAY?

Date: March 28, 2018
Speaker: Prof.Dr. Matthias Gutberlet (Leipzig, Germany)

Description:

Despite its great potential, hybrid cardiovascular imaging is still not as widely-used as it should be. According to some of the most common indications for imaging in cardiovascular medicine and its potential in a clinical scenario three major topics will be discussed in the Webinar:

I. Coronary Artery Disease and Heart Failure
II. Endocarditis, especially Prosthetic Valve Endocarditis (PVE)
III. Vascular / Myocardial Inflammatory Disease (i.e. myocarditis / sarcoidosis)

Learning Objectives:

  • To learn more about the potential and already existing indications for hybrid imaging in the cardiovascular system
  • To know the advantages and disadvantages of a hybrid system
  • To get knowledge of the technical principles of a PET/MR system

About the speaker:

Pic_Matthias GutberletProf. Dr. Matthias Gutberlet is Specialist in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine and currently is Head of the Department for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at the University Leipzig. He is also Past-President of the European Society of Cardiac Radiology (ESCR).

Clinical Work:
Beside diagnostic imaging and treatment of diseases of the cardiovascular system our department provides the radiological service for the Park-Klinikum Leipzig with a main focus on the muscoloskeletal system, gastroenterology and pulmology. We are part of a “Onkozert” certified “Darm- and Pankreaszentrum” since 2008. My multimodality experience in oncology startet at the Charité, Campus Virchow, including PET/CT reading and was continued as a reviewer for Parexcel-Berlin in 2005/2006. At the University Leipzig I am still involved in clinical and research Activities at the PET/MR-system.

Research:
I was mainly involved in research projects dealing with Doppler-ultrasound, contrast agents, MDCT and MRI of the cardiovascular system, using the techniques of dynamic CTA, Dual Energy, iterative reconstruction, coronary CTA, MR-angiography, MR-volumetry, MR flow-measurements and MR-perfusion in humans and animal models. I am one of the project leaders of the German Competence Network for Congenital Heart Disease since 2003.

Recent studies of our group were dealing with dose reduction in CT, imaging and post-processing before and after TAVI and EVAR, MR viability assessment in comparison to SPECT, PET, MRI at 3.0T and studies on the assessment of inflammation by MRI. Furthermore, we have gathered the first experiences in PET/MR and interventional MRI.

Webinar 4 - PET/MRI - BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

Webinar 4

PET/MRI – BEST OF BOTH WORLDS

Date: April 25, 2018
Time: 17:00 (CET)
Speaker: PD Dr. Lale Umutlu (Essen, Germany)

Description:

This webinar on „PET/MRI- the best of both worlds“ aims to introduce residents and hybrid imagers into the diagnostic potential, applications fields and future appliances of PET/MR imaging.

After its introduction into clinical imaging in 2010 PET/MRI has been the focus of innumerous international scientific and clinical imaging trials, demonstrating its excellent diagnostic value for various application fields. While inital trials focussed on the comparison and demonstration of its equivalent diagnostic competence compared to PET/CT, the current scientific focus has shifted towards multiparametric imaging and the assessment of noninvasive biomarkers based on morphologic, functional, and metabolic imaging.

Learning objectives:

  1. To become familiar with the role of hybrid imaging in clinical imaging.
  2. To become familiar with the role of PET/MRI and its application fields
  3. To understand hybrid imaging applications in relationship to disease presentations.

Case Study:

Case study - ABCFig. 1

Which statements are true? Figure 1 shows

  1. Chronic changes in a patient with Crohn´s disease.
  2. The superiority of MRI over PET for detection of acute inflammation.
  3. Acute inflammation at the splenic flexure of the colon.
  4. The impairment of PET diagnostics in patients with insufficient bowel cleansing.
  5. No acute inflammation.

Correct answer further down

About the speaker:

umutlu_PETMRT2018Associate Prof. PD Dr. Lale Umutlu is Vice Chair and Head of the Clinical MR-PET and Ultrahighfield research group at the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology and Neuroradiology of the University Hospital Essen, Germany. After receiving her habilitation (Venia legendi) on ultra-highfield whole-body MR imaging in 2013, her focus of scientific research interest has expanded by MR PET, with a main focus on oncology and malignancies of the female pelvis in particular. She has given > 150 scientific and invited educational presentations as well as published in highly-ranked academic journals. As a member of various societies including European Society of Radiology, she has also been involved in a large number of workshops organized by the ESMRMB, ESOR, ESR and EDIR.

The correct answer of the quiz is 3: “Acute inflammation at the splenic flexure of the colon.”

Webinar 5 - RADIOMICS IN ONCOLOGY: PRINCIPLES AND CHALLENGES

 

RADIOMICS IN ONCOLOGY: PRINCIPLES AND CHALLENGES

Date: May 30, 2018
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Laure Fournier (Paris, France)

Description

Radiomics is a new ‘data-driven’ approach for extracting large sets of complex descriptors from routine (or not) clinical images. Advanced methods of image processing are applied to images in order to extract a large number of descriptors, such as texture analysis from histograms, co-occurrence matrices, fractal analysis, etc…

This large set of data can be analysed using bio-informatics and bio-statistics methods defining imaging ‘profiles’ correlated to gene expression profiles, often called radiogenomics, or to outcomes, such as treatment response or survival. The further development of these new methods faces challenges regarding data generation and access.

Learning objectives:

  1. To learn about new methods of image analysis derived from ‘-omics’ methods.
  2. To understand processing of big data derived from images.
  3. To become familiar with new vocabulary such as Radiomics, radiogenomics, clusters, heat maps, etc.

About the speaker

Photo CV L Fournier 2013Laure Fournier works as an Associate Professor at the Hôpital Européen Georges Pompidou, in Paris, France. Her time is divided between clinical work, specialising in urological and gynaecological cancers, and imaging research in the Laboratoire de Recherche en Imagerie (INSERM U970).

She is pursuing work on techniques of functional computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients, to extract quantitative parameters from images reflecting tumour physiology and biology.

Her main field of interest is defining response to therapy, in particular for targeted therapies which require development of new response criteria.

Webinar 6 - PITFALLS OF PET/CT IN HEAD AND NECK ONCOLOGY

 

PITFALLS OF PET/CT IN HEAD AND NECK ONCOLOGY

Date: June 27, 2018
Time: 17:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Minerva Becker (Geneva, Switzerland)

Description

Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET/CT) with fluorine-18-fluorodeoxy-D-glucose (FDG) is an invaluable tool in head and neck cancer imaging. However interpretation of FDG PET/CT studies may be challenging because of the complex head and neck anatomy, physiological variants mimicking pathology, as well as unusual patterns of high or low FDG uptake.

The purpose of this lecture is to discuss the key imaging features and interpretation pitfalls of FDG PET/CT of the head and neck and how to avoid them. The pathophysiological mechanisms leading to potentially false positive and false negative interpretations are briefly reviewed, as well as the complementary use of high-resolution contrast enhanced PET/CT and – whenever necessary – ultrasonography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with diffusion weighted sequences.

Learning Objectives

  1. To understand key imaging features of physiological and non-physiological FDG uptake in head and neck PET/CT studies.
  2. To learn both how to avoid over-diagnosis of benign conditions as malignancy and how to avoid missing out on relevant pathology.
  3. To know when to use other imaging modalities as complementary tools in order to avoid misinterpretation of head and neck PET/CT studies.

Teaser Case

Teaser

About the speaker

Minerva BeckerMinerva Becker studied medicine at the University of Berne in Switzerland and specialized in Radiology at the Insel Hospital, University of Berne.

Early in her career, she specialized in head and neck radiology and many of her scientific publications focus on radiologic‐pathologic correlation, as well as on the performance of MRI, CT, PET CT and PET MRI in head and neck pathologies. She is the author of over 130 scientific publications and review articles and she is co-­‐editor of Valvassouri’s Head and Neck Imaging. Her h index is 31.

She has received over 30 international and national scientific awards and has obtained several research grants supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation.

Minerva Becker serves as a reviewer for 12 scientific journals and she equally serves as external expert in international and national juries for the attribution of PhD theses.

She is currently Associate Professor of Radiology and Head of the Imaging Unit of Head and Neck and Maxillofacial Radiology at the Geneva University Hospital.

She is an enthusiastic teacher with over 350 invited lectures at international and national meetings. As Chairman of the Education Committee of the European Society of Head and Neck Radiology (ESHNR), she is in charge the European training curriculum and diploma in head and neck radiology. She is Past President of the ESHNR.

Webinar 7 - PET/MRI IN ABDOMINAL ONCOLOGY

 

PET/MRI IN ABDOMINAL ONCOLOGY

Date: September 26, 2018
Time: 17:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Vicky Goh (London, UK)

Description

This lecture will explore the potential of PET/MRI for abdominal cancers focussing on where PET/MRI may provide additional information to PET/CT .

Learning Objectives

  1. To be aware of the imaging capability & challenges of integrated PET/MRI
  2. To be aware of the potential of PET/MRI for assessing abdominal cancers
  3. To be aware of the evidence to date for PET/MRI in abdominal cancers

About the speaker

Vicky GohProfessor Vicky Goh is Chair of Clinical Cancer Imaging and Consultant Radiologist at Guy’s and St Thomas’. Educated at Cheltenham Ladies’ College and Cambridge University, she is President of the European Society of Oncologic Imaging, Fellow of the European Society of Abdominal and Gastrointestinal Radiology, and Faculty member of the European School of Radiology. She is on the editorial board of Radiology and European Radiology. She is an active contributor to National/International practice guidelines and policy.

Her research focuses on multimodality functional imaging and biomarker development in cancer with a special interest in gastrointestinal, lung and renal cancers. She has >100 peer reviewed papers. She has been a principal and co-applicant on project and infrastructure grants totalling £22M in the last 3 years including being the Chief Investigator of a NIHR HTA funded multicentre study of imaging in colorectal cancer (PROSPeCT). She has given >50 national/international keynote lectures and has an international reputation for translating novel functional imaging techniques into clinical practice.

Webinar 8 - PET/MRI IN TUMOUR AND DEMENTIA IMAGING: A ROUTINE CLINICAL TOOL?

Webinar 8

PET/MRI IN TUMOUR AND DEMENTIA IMAGING: A ROUTINE CLINICAL TOOL?

 

Date: October 31, 2018
Time: 17:00 (CET)
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Sotirios Bisdas (London, UK)

At the conclusion of this webinar, participants will be able to:

  • To identify the key indications for PET/MRI in tumour and dementia imaging.
  • To recognize the hallmark PET/MRI findings in brain tumours and dementia-related neurodegeneration.
  • To differentiate between the true disease forms and their mimics.
  • To judge the clinical value of PET/MRI in tumour and dementia routine imaging.

 

Prof. Bisdas’ teaser case:

45-year-old male patient with right frontal GBM (first diagnosis 2/2014) undergoes chemoradiation and subsequently follow-up MRI in 5/2014 demonstrating an enhancing, centrally necrotic mass with extensive perifocal oedema. The patient experienced also clinical deterioration.

The reporting neuroradiologist and the multidisciplinary neuro-oncology team considered an early relapse as the most likely diagnosis (preliminary progressive disease according to the modified RANO critaria) and recommended close surveillance with PET/MRI for further assessment and imaging-guided patient management.

Follow-up PET/MRI with methionine and advanced MRI sequences was performed in 7/2014.

 

Teaser-Case-W8

About the speaker

IMG_0138Professor Sotirios Bisdas is Consultant Neuroradiologist and MRI Lead in the Lysholm Department of Neuroradiology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, Associate Professor in Neuroradiology at UCL, and Professor of Radiology at University of Tübingen, Germany.

He has completed a post-doctoral scholarship in Neuroradiology Research at the Medical University of South Carolina, USA and holds a MSc. degree in “Advanced Oncology” from University of Ulm, Germany. His fields of expertise include advanced and functional MRI, ultra-high field (7T and 9.4T) MRI, and PET/MRI in brain diseases (neurooncology, dementia, epilepsy) and in head and neck cancer.

He has followed clinical neuro-PET/MRI since its advent and his first publication in brain tumours has been more than 240 times cited. He is also Clinical Lead of the Neurooncology flagship programme at the UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering. Widely published with more than 130 PubMed-indexed authorships, he is also Editor and Editorial Board Member of several leading journals in Radiology and Neuroradiology, member of the Executive Committee of the ESHNR, and the ESR Research Committee.

Webinar 9 - PETRUS: POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY REGISTERED ULTRASOUND

 

Webinar 9

PETRUS: POSITRON EMISSION TOMOGRAPHY REGISTERED ULTRASOUND 

Date: November 21, 2018
Time: 17:00 (CET)
Speakers: Prof.Dr. Bertrand Tavitian (Paris, France) & Prof.Dr. Mickael Tanter (Paris, France)

Lecture Description

PET and ultrasound are an ideal combination for hybrid imaging: PET–CT is the most sensitive molecular imaging modality, but it has low spatial and temporal resolution. Ultrasound imaging, especially the recently introduced Ultrafast ultrasound imaging (UUI) technology based on ultrasonic holography, leverages frame rates of up to several thousand images per second to quantitatively map, at high resolution, hemodynamic, biomechanical, electrophysiological and structural parameters. Theoretically, one can expect exquisite sensitivity, quantification, whole body imaging and a relatively large portfolio of molecular imaging targets on one side, together with low cost, simplicity and unmatched resolution on the other side.

We have built PETRUS (PET Registered Ultrasound); a preclinical PET–CT–UUI triple-imaging modality that integrates the three imaging modalities in one device for simultaneous, fully co-registered imaging, enabling image fusion independent of motion without increasing acquisition times [1]. PETRUS was assembled from existing, commercially available devices using lightweight and portable UUI instrumentation for which dedicated, customized sequences were developed. We showed that full, markerless, rigid-body three-dimensional registration was accurately achieved by controlling the ultrasound probe with a six-degrees-of-freedom motorized micropositioner and that the presence of the ultrasound probe had a negligible impact on the quality of the PET volumes [2]. Remarkably, PETRUS provides multi-parametric information currently unobtainable with any other non-invasive imaging method. Here I will present pre-clinical oncology and cardiology applications of fused, simultaneously acquired volumes of PETRUS images that yield unprecedented information.

[1] Provost J, Garofalakis A, Sourdon J,  et al. Simultaneous Positron Emission Tomography and Ultrafast Ultrasound for Hybrid Molecular, Anatomical, and Functional Imaging. Nature Biomed Eng 2018;2(2):85-94.[2] Perez-Liva M, Viel T, Yoganathan T, et al. Performance evaluation of the PET component of a hybrid PET/CT-ultrafast ultrasound imaging instrument. Phys Med Biol. 2018 Sep
21;63(19):19NT01. doi: 10.1088/1361-6560/aad946. PubMed PMID: 30091723.

Learning objectives

  1. Complementarity between PET and Ultrafast ultrasound imaging (UUI) for simultaneous preclinical imaging
  2. Characteristics of hybrid PET-UUI instrument
  3. Applicarions of PET-UUI in oncology research
  4. Applications of PET-UUI in cardiology research

About the speaker

Bertrand TavitianBertrand Tavitian, MD
Professor of Radiology and Medical Imaging

Present position:

  • Professor of Radiology and Medical Imaging (Professeur des Universités – Praticien des Hôpitaux) at the Faculty of Medicine of Paris Descartes;
  • Director, Imaging research Laboratory of Paris Cardiovascular Research Center (Inserm U970)
  • Director of the Network for in vivo imaging of University Paris Descartes

Education:

  • Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris 1977-1982.
  • Professor (“Agrégation”) of Biochemistry & Biological Engineering, 1982.
  • Doctor in Medicine, Faculty of Medicine of University Paris Descartes, 1985.
  • Accreditation for Research Supervision (“Habilitation à diriger les Recherches”), University Paris-Sud, 1999.

Previous positions:

  • Director of the Laboratory for Experimental Molecular Imaging and head of Inserm U1023 « In vivo imaging of gene expression» (Inserm – CEA), Orsay, France, 2001-2012
  • Director of the platform for innovative imaging technologies (PET, SPECT, CT and optical imaging) in small-animal imaging research, Institute for Biomedical Imaging, Orsay, France, 2007-2012.

Research summary:

  • In vivo molecular imaging of gene expression for physiology and pathophysiology

Present research interests:

  • Imaging the relationship between metabolism and vascularization in tumors, heart and brain. Development of hybrid imaging instruments.
  • Tools and software for imaging research management and data mining
  • Translation of preclinical imaging research into clinical applications.
  • Long-time interest in the use of nucleic acids (antisense, aptamers, interfering RNAs, ribozymes,etc) for imaging, both as biotechnological tools for imaging probe development and as pharmacologically active compounds.

Scientific production:

  • 114 peer-reviewed publications (Pubmed), 12 patents

Student supervision:

  • PhDs 1994-present, n=17. Two (2005, 2016) received the Prize of the Paris Chancery for best PhD.
  • Post-doctoral students, n = 19 including 14 postdoctoral fellows from abroad France.

Coordination of Research programs

  • Coordinator, FP6 program OLIM (Oligonucleotides for Imaging), 1997-2000.
  • Coordinator, FP7 Network of excellence EMIL (European Laboratories for Molecular Imaging of Cancer), 2004-2009
  • Founder and first President of the European Society for Molecular Imaging (ESMI), 2005-2008
  • PI in five European FP6 and FP7 projects, PI and co-PI in over 20 National research programs,

Awards

  • Laureate of the Faculty of Medicine, Paris 1985
  • American Nuclear Society, Special Award for Nuclear Techniques in Medical Diagnosis and Treatment, 1999
  • Major Achievement in European Research, 1999
  • Eurocancer Great Scientific Prize 2005
  • European Society for Molecular Imaging Award 2007
Joint Webinar - CLINICAL HYBRID IMAGING: RADIATION ISSUES
Eurosafe Imaging, IAEA and ESHIMT Webinar

CLINICAL HYBRID IMAGING: RADIATION ISSUES

Date: December 10, 2018
Time: 15:00 CET
Speakers: Ivo Rausch, Katrine Riklund

This webinar on Clinical Hybrid Imaging: Radiation Issues is organised by EuroSafe Imaging together with the IAEA Radiation Protection of Patients (RPOP) Unit and the European Society for Hybrid, Molecular and Translational Imaging (ESHIMT).

About the webinar:

Nuclear medicine imaging techniques and hybrid imaging devices (like SPECT/CT and PET/CT) are key elements of medical imaging today. The combination of a nuclear medicine imaging technique and an anatomical imaging modality, in particular, has been demonstrated to provide clinical value in patients with a range of benign and malignant diseases.

Imaging techniques like CT and nuclear medicine methods are based on the use of ionising radiation. In the case of CT, a X-ray transmission source rotates around the patient while a detector array on the opposite site of the patient acquires the range of photons transmitted through the body of the patient. In nuclear medicine examinations, patients are injected with a given amount of a radiotracer, a biomolecule labeled with a radioactive isotope, specific to the purpose of the functional, nuclear medicine examination. The emitted radiation from inside the patient can be measured, and from this data, the tracer distribution can be reconstructed.

In both, CT and nuclear medicine examinations, radiation energy is deposited in the body of the patients by the fractions of photons absorbed within the body tissues and by scattered photons. In combined imaging, patient exposure results from the added contributions from both CT and nuclear medicine examination.

Exposure to ionising radiation in a quantity as used in medical imaging bears the risk of stochastic effects like radiation induced cancer. Thus, these risks need to be taken into account when performing an examination and the rational for a radiation exposure should be based on the ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable) principle.

Learning objectives:

  • To understand where the dose is coming from in hybrid imaging examinations.
  • To understand the difference between different dose measures.
  • To understand the meaning of “risk” associated with radiation exposure from hybrid imaging.

About the speakers:

Ivo Rausch, PhD, studied Technical Physics at the University of Technology Vienna with a focus on radiation protection and nuclear physics and graduated in 2011. He joined the Division of Nuclear Medicine, Medical University of Vienna as a scientific employee in 2013.  Thereafter, I. Rausch joined the Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering (CMPBMT), where he also accomplished the PhD program in Medical Physics. Further, he completed the university course “Medical Physics”, which is compliant with the EFOMP and EU guidelines for the education of medical physics experts.

Today, he is a post doc researcher in the Quantitative Imaging and Medical Physics group at the CMPBMT. His interests relate to quantitative hybrid imaging in nuclear medicine with a special focus on PET/MRI and PET/CT. In close collaboration with the Division of Nuclear Medicine, he is engaged in several (clinical) studies and educational activities. He is a member of the working group “Medical Physics and Radiation Protection” of the Austrian Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (OGNMB), member of the ESHIMT research committee and board member of the Austrian Society of Radiation Protection in Medicine (VSMÖ).

Katrine Riklund is full professor, consultant in diagnostic radiology and pro-vice-chancellor of Umeå University. Prior to her current positions, she headed both the Clinical Department of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Umeå University Hospital and served as deputy dean of the medical faculty between 2008 and 2011. She graduated at Umeå University in 1988, and licensed in radiology and nuclear medicine in 1994 and 1997, respectively. Prof. Riklund started her work in translational research between immunology and nuclear medicine by developing and evaluating monoclonal antibodies in the diagnosis and treatment of gynaecological cancers. She soon became interested in hybrid imaging, particularly to carry out research in cognition, neurodegeneration and movement disorders. She also works in prostate and colorectal cancer imaging research. She has served in many leadership roles for the European Society of Radiology (ESR) since 2009, and is the past-president of the European Society for Hybrid, Molecular and Translational Imaging (ESHIMT). She was the president of the Swedish Society of Radiology and the Swedish Society of Nuclear Medicine. She is also chairperson of the Centre for Medical Image Science and Visualisation at Linköping University, the Centre for Functional Brain Imaging and Wallenberg Centre for Molecular Medicine as well as for the Umeå Centre for Functional Brain Imaging at Umeå University, Sweden.

Webinar 10 - PSMA-PET-MRI FOR DIAGNOSIS OF PROSTATE CANCER

Webinar 10

PSMA-PET-MRI FOR DIAGNOSIS OF PROSTATE CANCER

Date: December 19, 2018
Time: 17:00 (CET)
Speaker: Assoc.-Prof. Dr. Pascal Baltzer (Vienna, Austria

Lecture description

The lecture entitled “PSMA-PET-MRI for Diagnosis of Prostate Cancer” will give an overview on the increasing role of PSMA-PET and MRI in prostate cancer. Starting with an overview on prostate cancer epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment, the roles of PSMA-PET and MRI in local cancer detection and staging, distant and lymph node staging and biochemical recurrence of the disease will be discussed. The talk aims to provide a balanced perspective on the topic including the trend towards short biparametric approaches and one-stop shop imaging using PET-MRI.

Prof. Baltzer’s Teaser Case

62 year old man with prostate cancer, staging PET-MRI

Teaser Case-1

Processed with VSCO with t1 presetAbout the speaker

Dr. Pascal Baltzer, radiologist, is an associate professor and section head in urogenital imaging at the Department of Biomedical Imaging and Image-guided therapy, General Vienna Hospital of the Medical University of Vienna. He currently serves as an editor to several journals, foremost as an associate editor for the European Journal of Radiology. Since his PhD in breast MRI, he dedicated much of his clinical and research time to multi parametric MRI and the potential role of hybrid imaging in gender imaging.

Past Webinars 2017

Webinar 1 - HYBRID IMAGING: BASICS

Date: February 22, 2017
Time: 17:00 (CET)
Speaker: Thomas Beyer, PhD (Vienna, Austria)

Description
The past decade has been a decade of hybrid imaging. Hybrid imaging comprises hardware combinations of complementary anatomical and molecular imaging methods. These include SPECT/CT, PET/CT and PET/MR, with other options being discussed and explored.

This webinar is on the basics of hybrid clinical imaging today. The tutor is Thomas Beyer, PhD, a co-developer of PET/CT. He will briefly explain the origins of hybrid imaging (SPECT/CT, PET/CT and PET/MR) before highlighting the basic methodologies associated with these imaging technologies. The webinar will include an update on applications and challenges before ending with an outlook. The key take home message is “Moving machineries closer together, requires to do the same with people and expertises”.

Learning Objectives:

  1. To review the origins of SPECT/CT, PET/CT and PET/MR imaging systems.
  2. To understand the basic principles and general clinical applications.
  3. To speculate on trends in dual-modality PET- and SPECT-based imaging technology.

About the Speaker

Beyer_201607Thomas Beyer holds a PhD in Physics and is co-developer of the first combined PET/CT system worldwide. He has a background in research and project management in academia and imaging industry.

Thomas graduated in Physics at the Leipzig University (Germany) and got his PhD in Medical Physics from Surrey University (UK). During his US-based studies he became involved in the development and clinical testing of the first PET/CT prototype (1992-2000) before joining Siemens/CTI PET Systems as an International PET/CT specialist.

In 2002 he became a Research Associate in Nuclear Medicine and Radiology and PET/CT project manager at Essen University Hospital (Germany). In 2006 he became Teaching Professor (Priv-Doz) for Experimental Nuclear Medicine at Essen, and joined timaq medical imaging Inc, a Zurich-based Imaging CRO. In 2007 he moved to Philips Medical Systems as International Manager Clinical Science Nuclear Medicine. In 2008 he set up a Zurich-based consulting company for expert advise in cross-modality imaging and applications. He is appointed full professor of Physics of Medical Imaging at the Medical University of Vienna from March 2013.

Thomas is a member of various national and international Medicine organizations, a founding member of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Physics Committee and past Head of the New Technology working group at the Association of Imaging Producers and Equipment Suppliers (AIPES). He is a co-founder of the European Society of Hybrid Imaging and a Board M

Webinar 2 - CLINICAL HYBRID IMAGING

Date: March 29, 2017
Time: 17:00 (CET)
Speaker: Osman Ratib MD, PhD (Geneva/CH)

Description:

Hybrid imaging brings more to clinical practice and patient management than simple fusion of images from different imaging modalities. Since the introduction of PET-CT in clinical practice and later the extension of hybrid modalities to SPECT-CT and PET-MRI, specific applications of these modalities emerged, addressing clinical issues beyond the simple added value of better localization and diagnostic confidence of the combination of metabolic anomalies and their specific localisation in organs and tissues.

This webinar will review theses well established applications of hybrid imaging in specific clinical domains such as on oncology for breast, head and neck and prostate imaging, in neurodegenerative diseases, in assessment of musculoskeletal diseases and in cardiovascular imaging.

Learning objectives:

  1. To review the clinical applications of the different hybrid modalities
  2. To learn about the current clinical guidelines and best practices of use of hybrid imaging in clinical practice
  3. To foresee current and future developments in molecular imaging techniques and their potential impact on patient management

About the Speaker

Pic_Osman RatibProfessor Osman Ratib is dual board certified in cardiology and Nuclear Medicine and carries a PhD in Biomedical Physics in digital imaging. In July 1998 he was appointed as Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Radiology at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).

He was responsible for coordinating the deployment of an enterprise-wide strategy and infrastructure for image management and communication. In July 2005 he returned to Geneva to take the position chair of the Department of Medical Imaging and Information Sciences and head of the Nuclear Medicine division. He pioneered several innovative projects in hybrid molecular imaging PET-CT and SPECT-CT and the first whole-body PET-MRI unit in Europe.

He is founder and president of the OsiriX foundation, a non-profit organization for the promotion of Open-Source software in medicine. Founder and director of the Translational Molecular Imaging Institute in Geneva, created under the joint leadership of to the University of Geneva and Technical university EPFL in Lausanne.

Webinar 3 - PET/CT IN LYMPHOMA

Date: April 26, 2017
Time: 17:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Prof. Gerald Antoch, MD (Düsseldorf/DE)

Description:

This webinar will be held as a hands-on course to guide the radiologist and nuclear medicine physician on how to use PET/CT in patients with lymphoma. This course will summarize typical findings on CT and FDG-PET, which complement one another at the time of diagnosis and tumor staging.

While morphology is important in diagnosis,  differential diagnosis, and staging, therapy response assessment is mainly based on FDG-PET. But, on which criteria do you base therapy response assessment with PET? Should you perform interim-PET or PET at the end-of-treamtent? And, how does immunotherapy affect your PET results?

Watch the webinar, and you will know!

Learning objectives:

  1. To learn about typical findings of FDG-PET/CT in lymphoma.
  2. To review international recommendations for staging and therapy response assessment in lymphoma.
  3. To communicate criteria applied for therapy response assessment with PET/CT.

About the Speaker

Pic_Gerald AntochGerald Antoch is professor of radiology and chairman of the department of diagnostic and interventional radiology at Düsseldorf University Hospital.

After completing his medical training, Dr. Antoch began working in general surgery before starting his training in diagnostic and interventional radiology at Essen University Hospital. He became a board certified radiologist in 2004. From 2004 to 2008, he worked as a consultant radiologist and became vice chairman of the department of radiology at Essen University Hospital in 2008. In 2010 he was appointed chairman of the department of diagnostic and interventional radiology at Düsseldorf University Hospital.

Prof. Antoch’s scientific research focuses on clinical hybrid imaging. He has published 209 original scientific articles and reviews, as well as 20 book chapters. He has received widespread recognition for his work with a number of awards. In 2003, he received the Alavi-Mandell Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine, United States, and that same year he won Aunt Minnie’s Best Scientific Paper Award, which he won again in 2004. In 2005 he was awarded the Lodwick Award at Harvard Medical School followed by awards from the Bavarian Association of Nuclear Medicine and the German Cancer Research Center in the same year. In 2007 the German Radiological Society presented Prof. Antoch with the Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen Award.

 

Webinar 4 - HYBRID IMAGING IN HEAD AND NECK CANCER

Date: May 31, 2017
Time: 17:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Dr. Sergios Gatidis (Tübingen/DE)

Description:

This webinar will give an overview over the use of hybrid imaging in the diagnostic work-up of patients with head and neck cancer. Specific technical challenges and pitfalls of head and neck imaging and available solutions will be summarized. Current indications for the use of PET/CT and PET/MRI will be presented in the context of international guidelines.

In addition, comparative strengths and limitations of PET/CT and PET/MRI will be discussed in a clinical context and with respect to research applications. Potential future applications including the use of specific PET tracers will be presented.

Learning objectives:

  1. To learn about technical challenges and possible solutions in head and neck imaging.
  2. To know about international recommendations for the use of hybrid imaging in head and neck cancer.
  3. To assess strengths and limitations of PET/CT and PET/MRI for imaging of head and neck cancer.

About the speaker:

Picture_Sergios_GatidisSergios Gatidis is Radiologist at the Department of Radiology of the University Hospital in Tübingen/Germany.

He studied Medicine and Mathematics at the Eberhard-Karl-Universität Tübingen.

Currently he is responsible for the multidisciplinary PET/MRI research group in Tübingen. S. Gatidis’ focus of research lies in clinical hybrid imaging studies and the development of techniques for the analysis of multiparametric imaging data from PET/CT, MRI and PET/MRI.

Webinar 5 - PET/CT IN LUNG CANCER
Date: June 28, 2017
Time: 17:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Dr. Katrine Riklund (Umeå/SE)

Description:

The lecture will be an intoduction to the use of FDG-PET/CT in staging of lung cancer. The TNM classification system will be briefly covered and how to use FDG for metabolic staging will be discussed. Some typical FDG-PET/CT lung cancer cases will also be demonstrated.

Learning objectives:

  • To learn about TNM classification of lung cancer
  • to understand metabolic staging of lung cancer with FDG-PET/CT
  • to learn about interpretation of examination with FDG-PET/CT in lung cancer

About the speaker

Katrine Riklund, graduated at Umeå university in 1988, licensed in radiology in 1994 and in nuclear medicine in 1997. She

defended her PhD thesis about radioimmunoscintigraphy and radioimmunitherapy, in 1992, and received a position as senior lecturer in 1993.

In 2002 she was appointed as full clinical professor in diagnostic radiology at Umeå University and she still holds that position. During 2000-2002 Dr. Riklund was the head of the clinical department of Radiology at Umeå university hospital and is thereafter responsible for the department of nuclear medicine. She was deputy dean of the medical faculty 2008-2011 and is now the director of the medical school. 

Dr. Riklund started her work in science in translational research between immunology and nuclear medicine by developing and evaluation of monoclonal antibodies in the diagnosis and treatment of gynecological cancers.Thereafter hybrid imaging took her interest and imaging research in cognition, neurodegeneration and movement disorders was added. Oncologic imaging of prostate and colorectal cancer is her third area of interest.

The linker between the different areas in her research is hybrid imaging, SPECT/CT, PET/CT and PET/MR. The research also includes a focus on dopamine in imaging, both pre- and postsynaptic.

She has several commitments in radiology societies and is the past president of both the Swedish society of radiology and the Swedish society of nuclear medicine. She is the Chair of the Board of Center for medical image science and visualisation, University of Linköping, Sweden. At moment, she is immediate Past President of the European Society of Radiology and the first President of the European Society of Hybrid Medical Imaging.

Webinar 6 - COMBINED PET/MRI: METHODS AND APPLICATIONS

Date: September 18, 2017
Time: 17:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Thomas Beyer, PhD (Vienna/AT)

Description
Combined PET/MRI has been around for close to a decade now, generating a lot of hype and some clinical traction. This webinar aims at 3 main objectives: First, we will review briefly the key methodological aspects of PET/MRI, so as to understand its diagnostic potential for clinical work and research applications. Second, we will review briefly the clinical status of whole-body PET/MRI. And third, we will highlight a few key applications in research.

The main conclusion from this webinar will be “PET/MRI is synonymous with global warming” along the lines of the recent white paper on the 6th Tübingen PET/MR workshop (to appear in ‘Molecular Imaging and Biology’ (MIB) in 12/17).

Learning Objectives: 

  1. To review the key methodological aspects of combined PET/MRI.
  2. To highlight the main clinical applications.
  3. To promote key applications for PET/MRI from a research angle.
  4. To speculate on the future of PET/MRI.

About the Speaker

Beyer_201607Thomas Beyer holds a PhD in Physics and is co-developer of the first combined PET/CT system worldwide. He has a background in research and project management in academia and imaging industry.

Thomas graduated in Physics at the Leipzig University (Germany) and got his PhD in Medical Physics from Surrey University (UK). During his US-based studies he became involved in the development and clinical testing of the first PET/CT prototype (1992-2000) before joining Siemens/CTI PET Systems as an International PET/CT specialist.

In 2002 he became a Research Associate in Nuclear Medicine and Radiology and PET/CT project manager at Essen University Hospital (Germany). In 2006 he became Teaching Professor (Priv-Doz) for Experimental Nuclear Medicine at Essen, and joined timaq medical imaging Inc, a Zurich-based Imaging CRO. In 2007 he moved to Philips Medical Systems as International Manager Clinical Science Nuclear Medicine. In 2008 he set up a Zurich-based consulting company for expert advise in cross-modality imaging and applications. He is appointed full professor of Physics of Medical Imaging at the Medical University of Vienna from March 2013.

Thomas is a member of various national and international Medicine organizations, a founding member of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Physics Committee and past Head of the New Technology working group at the Association of Imaging Producers and Equipment Suppliers (AIPES). He is a co-founder of the European Society of Hybrid Imaging and a past Head of the New Technology working group at the Association of Imaging Producers and Equipment Suppliers (AIPES).

Webinar 7 - CARDIAC PET/MR

Date: October 25, 2017
Time: 17:00 (CEST)
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Mathias Gutberlet (Leipzig/DE)

Description:

Cardiac MRI and Cardiac PET are both important imaging modalities for clinical decision making as well as for research in cardiovascular disease. Both modalities have developed a lot during the recent two decades. Therefore, a combination of the best of both modalities seems to be quite promising. The principles of different PET/MR systems with its advantages and disadvantages as well as potential indications for PET/MR in the cardiovascular system on the basis of the position statement:

“Hybrid cardiac imaging using PET/MRI: A joint position statement by the European Society of Cardiac Radiology (ESCR) and the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM)” will be described during the Webinar.

Learning Objectives:
  • To get knowledge of the technical principles of a PET/MR system
  • To learn more about the technical challenges to build a PET/MR system
  • To know the advantages and disadvantages of a combined PET/MR system
  • To learn more about the potential indications for PET/MR in the cardiovascular system
About the speaker:

Pic_Matthias GutberletProf. Dr. Matthias Gutberlet is Specialist in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine and currently is Head of the Department for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology at the University Leipzig. He is also Past-President of the European Society of Cardiac Radiology (ESCR).

Clinical Work:
Beside diagnostic imaging and treatment of diseases of the cardiovascular system our department provides the radiological service for the Park-Klinikum Leipzig with a main focus on the muscoloskeletal system, gastroenterology and pulmology. We are part of a “Onkozert” certified “Darm- and Pankreaszentrum” since 2008. My multimodality experience in oncology startet at the Charité, Campus Virchow, including PET/CT reading and was continued as a reviewer for Parexcel-Berlin in 2005/2006. At the University Leipzig I am still involved in clinical and research Activities at the PET/MR-system.

Research:
I was mainly involved in research projects dealing with Doppler-ultrasound, contrast agents, MDCT and MRI of the cardiovascular system, using the techniques of dynamic CTA, Dual Energy, iterative reconstruction, coronary CTA, MR-angiography, MR-volumetry, MR flow-measurements and MR-perfusion in humans and animal models. I am one of the project leaders of the German Competence Network for Congenital Heart Disease since 2003.

Recent studies of our group were dealing with dose reduction in CT, imaging and post-processing before and after TAVI and EVAR, MR viability assessment in comparison to SPECT, PET, MRI at 3.0T and studies on the assessment of inflammation by MRI. Furthermore, we have gathered the first experiences in PET/MR and interventional MRI.

Webinar 8 - PET/MR IN PAEDIATRIC ONCOLOGY

Date: November 22, 2017
Time: 17:00 (CET)
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Schäfer (Tübingen/DE)

Description:

In theory, the combination of PET and MRI might be the best modality for paediatric cancer imaging. The rationales for this hypothesis are: (a) the significantly lower radiation exposure even in comparison to low-dose PET/CT, (b) the higher diagnostic accuracy as compared to PET/CT even when using diagnostic contrast-enhanced CT, (c) the unique possibility to combine distinct MR-inherent contrasts (e.g. DWI) with specific PET-tracers for the evaluation of novel targeted therapies, and (d) the opportunity to stage local and systemic tumour burden within a single examination.

On the other hand, many circumstances are challenging the extensive use of PET/MRI in children. In general, the availability of PET/MRI systems is still low. Thus, only a few sites in Europe have experience particularly children. Therefore, the scientific evidence is restricted.  Moreover, whole-body-MRI is not a broadly adopted method for the combined assessment of local disease extent and whole-body staging, potentially replacing other whole-body modalities like the bone scan.  In this context, especially the detection of pulmonary metastases is biased also against PET/MRI.  Finally harmonized sequence protocols and specific recommendations for tracer dosage are not available for PET/MRI. However, that will be launched in the next future.

Learning Objectives:

  • To understand the principles of simultaneous PET/MR in children
  • To have a knowledge of advantages and limitations of PET/MR in daily practice
  • To list indications for PET/MR in children with cancer
Webinar 9 - PET/CT ARTIFACTS AND SOLUTIONS

Date: December 20, 2017
Time: 17:00 (CET)
Speaker: Thomas Beyer, PhD (Vienna, Austria)

Description

Image artifacts may impact patient diagnosis. This webinar will highlight common image distortions in hybrid PET/CT and PET/MR imaging and – together with the audience – probe the causes of these artifacts as well as provide work-around solutions. This will be an interactive course where participants are invited to partake in MC question tests.

Learning objectives:
1. To appreciate the origin and appearance of common image distortions in clinical PET/CT and PET/MRI
2. To vote on the causes of the artifacts (interactive case studies)
3. To understand workaround solutions to reduce the frequency / magnitude of these image distortions”
About the Speaker

Beyer_201607Thomas Beyer holds a PhD in Physics and is co-developer of the first combined PET/CT system worldwide. He has a background in research and project management in academia and imaging industry.

Thomas graduated in Physics at the Leipzig University (Germany) and got his PhD in Medical Physics from Surrey University (UK). During his US-based studies he became involved in the development and clinical testing of the first PET/CT prototype (1992-2000) before joining Siemens/CTI PET Systems as an International PET/CT specialist.

In 2002 he became a Research Associate in Nuclear Medicine and Radiology and PET/CT project manager at Essen University Hospital (Germany). In 2006 he became Teaching Professor (Priv-Doz) for Experimental Nuclear Medicine at Essen, and joined timaq medical imaging Inc, a Zurich-based Imaging CRO. In 2007 he moved to Philips Medical Systems as International Manager Clinical Science Nuclear Medicine. In 2008 he set up a Zurich-based consulting company for expert advise in cross-modality imaging and applications. He is appointed full professor of Physics of Medical Imaging at the Medical University of Vienna from March 2013.

Thomas is a member of various national and international Medicine organizations, a founding member of the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) Physics Committee and past Head of the New Technology working group at the Association of Imaging Producers and Equipment Suppliers (AIPES). He is a co-founder of the European Society of Hybrid Imaging and a past Head of the New Technology working group at the Association of Imaging Producers and Equipment Suppliers (AIPES).