Research Project
Myocardial infarction (MI) has a very high yearly incidence rate of 6 in 1000 people. Acute MI results in myocardial tissue injury which often lead to inflammation and other frequent complications such as myocardial haemorrhage, associated with adverse outcomes. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is an attractive imaging modality for the monitoring of these patients. Myocardial haemorrhage is associated with high iron concentration. In the presence of a strong magnetic field (such as an MRI scanner), iron deposits act like little magnets which affect the local magnetic susceptibility. Magnetic susceptibility is an MR-parameter which can be quantified using advanced MRI acquisition and post-processing techniques. The initial feasibility of cardiac quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) has been recently demonstrated and shows great promise for iron deposition assessment in the heart. However, these methods remain sensitive to motion artefacts and have long scan/reconstruction time, which prevents their feasibility in a clinical scenario. The aim of this PhD is to develop the next generation CMR QSM framework which is feasible in patients. The project will involve the development of novel MRI pulse sequences, MRI reconstruction techniques, and deep learning methods, as well as publishing in high impact journals and presenting findings at international conferences. These new methods will be validated in phantom experiments, healthy volunteers, and patients.
Environment
The applicant will join an internationally leading programme in cardiac MRI at KCL and will be co-supervised by Dr. Sebastien Roujol (MR-physics and engineering) and Dr. Pier Giorgio Masci (Cardiologist). The postholder will be located within the School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences at King’s College London (KCL), which is located within St Thomas Hospital in the heart of London. The applicant will join an interdisciplinary environment with a strong expertise in development and clinical translation of novel cardiac MRI techniques.
Funding
This project is proposed as part of the MRC-DTP programme at KCL, which offers a number of fully funded PhD studentships: either as one-year MRes followed by a PhD (‘1+3’) or a 4 year PhD (‘0+4’). More details on the programme can be found here.
Who Should Apply?
Applications are invited from excellent worldwide candidates with interest in multi-disciplinary research and training in medical imaging, and a degree in any engineering subject such as medical physics, biomedical engineering or equivalent.
How to Apply?
If you’d like to discuss your suitability for this post, please contact via email Dr. Sébastien Roujol at [Email Address Removed] and Dr. Pier Giorgio Masci at [Email Address Removed]. To be considered for this project, applicants will need to apply to the MRC DTP programme first (direct link) and be admitted. The deadline for application to this programme is 18 November 2021.
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