UCL in the News: Graphic illustration

The benefits of the research carried out by King's College London (KCL) and UCL range from making the system easier to use to making the examination more comfortable for patients. …

UCL's Dr David Atkinson [UCL Computer Science and UCL Medical Physics & Bioengineering] added: 'The reconstruction of data into an image has historically been time-consuming and for some schemes, it takes longer than the acquisition itself. By using graphics cards, we have been able to get the image reconstruction time down to less than the acquisition time.' …

Before an image is acquired, MRI patients have to hold their breath for around 15 seconds while being scanned. This often uncomfortable process can be repeated several times so that clear image slices of the heart can be obtained. …

The motion caused by a heart contracting is considered more predictable and easier to compensate for compared with breathing motion, which is unpredictable.

In one approach, known as motion-compensated reconstruction, a patient would be allowed to breathe freely during a scan, with motion being measured during the scan and then fed into the reconstruction stage. …

In preparation for an MR scan, the different sampling rates or the orientation of a scan are some of the details that doctors have to plan before a scan can take place, which can be time-consuming. The researchers are trying to do 3D whole-heart acquisition. …