Grant: Project Grant

Stroke is a very common cause of death and disability in Canada. Imaging is used to determine the type and location of the stroke, and to follow its evolution. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is increasingly used in stroke follow-up, since it is sensitive to subtle tissue changes. However, current stroke MRI has limitations and could be even more useful. We plan to develop and test new MRI methods for stroke. The base of our new methods builds on technical MRI areas where we have already made major advances and are recognized leaders. The new MRI methods will yield accurate measurements of tissue properties, and are thus quantitative methods. We expect to create new MRI for stroke to measure key tissue changes including iron and volume changes in hemorrhage, size and evolution of microbleeds, tissue decay rates, and tissue and vein oxygenation. These measures will be tested against current standards in patient research studies using a dedicated research MRI centre. Each measure opens new windows into the study of stroke evolution and future response to therapy. To gain entry into clinical MRI protocols, the methods must be very fast or make use of current clinical MRI techniques in new ways. Methods that require no extra scan time will also be tested in our local MRI clinic. This research involves an MRI physicist, two stroke neurologists, and a neuroradiologist. The end result of this research will be new MRI methods that can provide greater insight into stroke and have the potential to change future use of clinical MRI for stroke follow-up.