Ganzkörper Hybrid PET/MR Tomograph

• Subject Area: Medicine
• Term: Funded in 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 356968953

Whole-body PET/MR raises great expectations due to the combination of morphological, physiological and molecular imaging. The first generation of users successfully evaluated the general aspects and feasibility of PET/MR. Recently, the second generation of scanners was introduced with substantial improvements. For Ulm University, this is the ideal time to join the PET/MR community, as our clinical and scientific expertise is well suited for extending the knowledge on intelligent and innovative applications of PET/MR. The system will be run as a “core facility”, thus a broad variety of projects will be investigated. However, two main topics from clinical and translational research will be in our focus: evaluation of routine indications for PET/MR with design of efficient workflows to facilitate integration in the clinics. Here, the infrastructure of the CCCU (comprehensive cancer center Ulm) will be especially beneficial. Moreover, evaluation of the concept of “multimodal multiparametric imaging” or “mMPI”, i.e. the integral analysis of the multiple quantitative data on tissue biology, which can be extracted non-invasively by PET/MR and be used e.g. for therapy planning, prognostic assessment or response evaluation. The following 6 project areas will be formed: Neurosciences (A), Cardiovascular sciences (B), Oncology (C), Pediatrics (D), Infectious and musculoskeletal diseases (E) and the Core project medical physics and instrumentation (F). In each of these areas, special expertise is present at Ulm University, guaranteeing a successful implementation of PET/MR with excellent scientific output.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Ganzkörper Hybrid PET/MR Tomograph
• Instrumentation Group: 3322 PET-MRT-Hybridgeräte (Positronen-Emissions-Tomograph und Magnetresonanz-Tomograph)
• Applicant Institution: Universitätsklinikum Ulm
• Leaders: Professor Dr. Ambros Beer; Professor Dr. Meinrad Beer