META-scan is a new 7T MRI system, specifically designed for metabolic imaging to gain information on, for example, muscle physiology, state of cartilage, glucose metabolism, and the response to chemotherapy. The system will be able to perform MRI experiments by observing five different nuclei in one scan session: 1H, 19F, 31P, 23Na, and 13C. For this purpose, technologies and experiences from clinical field strengths (1.5 T and 3 T) are being reused in this system, such as a built-in RF body coil, and RF receiver arrays for the frequencies of 31P, 23Na, and 13C, and high power technologies. These will be combined with a state-of-the-art parallel transmit system for the frequencies of 19F and 1H.

The META-scan project is a collaboration between five University medical centers (Amsterdam UMC, Radboud UMC, UMC Utrecht, UMC Groningen, and Leiden UMC) and three industrial partners (Philips Healthcare, Tesla Engineering Ltd., and MR Coils bv.) and receives funding from The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The project started in 2016 and the system is currently being installed at the UMC Utrecht.

NICI

The NICI project’s ambition is to lay the foundations of a new area of research: the study of human biology using non-invasive chemistry imaging.

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MITI

The MITI project will mature the non-ionizing Metabolic Imaging setup and explore its utilization in predicting the effect of and guiding Therapeutic Interventions in patients with liver and lung cancer, heart failure, or muscle dystrophy

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Deuterium Metabolic Imaging

Deuterium Metabolic Imaging (DMI) is a new technology to dynamically assess metabolic processes, which relies on deuterium magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging combined with oral administration of deuterium-labeled compounds.

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