Projects
Muscle functional MRI as an innovative biomarker for fiber type composition. Study in healthy control subjects and chronic low back pain patients. Ghent University
The invasive character of biopsy restricts extensive research on muscle fiber typing in trunk muscles. A noninvasive, in vivo alternative for biopsy may be found in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The objective of this project is to validate T2 relaxation time as an innovative biomarker for fiber type distribution and to gain fundamental insight in structural subdivision in lumbar muscles.
Cancer and pregnancy: effects of prenatal exposure to cancer treatment on neurocognitive development: an MRI and ERP study KU Leuven
The objective of this project is to investigate the long-term neurocognitive effects of prenatal exposure to cancer and cancer treatment (surgery, radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy). Advanced MRI techniques (multishell Diffusion-weighted Imaging (DWI), resting-state functional MRI and high-resolution structural MRI) and Event Related Potentials (ERP) are applied in order to have an as accurate and complete assessment as possible.
In this ...
Prospective longitudinal MRI and PET studies of epileptogenesis and brain plasticity in epilepsy using [18F]fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), [18F]flumazenil (FMZ), [18F]MK-9470 in small animals with epilepsy. KU Leuven
Joint model-based registration and segmentation strategies for integrated quantitative analysis of cardiac MRI sequences KU Leuven
Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a state-of-the-art method for non-invasive visualization and functional analysis of the heart and enables not only qualitative but also quantitative analysis. Examples are cine MRI for assessment of cardiac contraction or T1 mapping for quantitative characterization of myocardial tissue. The different images result in a large amount of data and provide complementary information to assess cardiac ...
Unraveling the pathways of radial turgor-driven water flow in wheat stems during carbohydrate mobilization by diffusion MRI and mechanistic modelling Ghent University
Despite being the largest crop in the world, wheat hydraulic functioning is still poorly understood. A new mechanistic model simulating water flow and storage in wheat revealed that the carbohydrate storage in the stem plays an important role for continuing water supply to the developing grain, especially during drought stress. Through modelling, it was discovered that turgor-driven radial flow, as it occurs in roots, is also important in ...
Motor control therapy in haemodynamic, structural and activation -based phenotypes for people with non-specific low back pain. KU Leuven
Low back pain (LBP) is very prevalent, affecting more than 510 million people worldwide. Moreover, LBP is the leading cause of years lived with disability, and it is responsible for major socio-economic costs. In most people, LBP is non-specific, meaning that a pathological cause, such as trauma, cannot be determined. Since the underlying mechanisms of non-specific LBP remain poorly understood, it is a major challenge to provide personalized ...
The role of functional imaging and molecular profiling in image guided highly conformal radiotherapy for head and neck cancer: towards a patient tailored treatment. KU Leuven
Non-invasive assessment of functional, cellular and molecular mechanisms linking inflammation and cardiac remodeling after acute myocardial injury. KU Leuven
Ischemic heart disease is a leading cause of death. The metabolic, functional, cellular and structural changes after acute myocardial injury, also termed cardiac remodeling, determine residual cardiac function, development of heart failure, and survival. Acute/chronic inflammation and reperfusion not only contribute to infarct healing but paradoxically also cause aggravation of the injury. Type, extent and timing of post injury events will ...