Quantification of Biophysical Parameters in Medical Imaging

The second edition of this book offers six new chapters covering the latest developments in quantitative medical imaging, including artificial intelligence, MRI mapping, sonography, elastography and cardiac CT. All the other existing chapters have been updated and expanded, many with new text and figures, to reflect the rapid translation and advancement of technology in this exciting area of biomedical research.

This updated edition presents fundamental knowledge on the imaging quantification of biophysical parameters for clinical diagnostic purposes. Clinical imaging scanners are considered by the authors as physical measurement systems capable of quantifying intrinsic parameters for the representation of the constitution and biophysical properties of tissues in vivo. In one respect, this approach fosters the development of new imaging methods for highly reproducible, system-independent, and quantitative biomarkers. These methods are greatly detailed in the book. Alternatively, this new edition equips the reader with a better understanding of how the physical properties of tissues interact with signal generation in medical imaging, opening up new insights into the complex and fascinating relationship between structure and function in living tissues. 

This updated edition is of interest to all those who recognize the limitations of clinical diagnosis based primarily on visual inspection of images, and who wish to learn more about the diagnostic potential of quantitative, biophysically-based medical imaging markers, as well as the challenges posed by the scarcity of such markers for next-generation imaging technologies.

Ingolf Sack is a Heisenberg professor of the German Research Foundation for Experimental Radiology and Elastography at Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany. He received a PhD in Chemistry from Freie Universität Berlin for the development of methods in NMR spectroscopy. He then worked at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel and at the Sunnybrook Hospital, Toronto. Since 2003 he has led an interdisciplinary team of physicists, engineers, chemists, and physicians who have pioneered pivotal developments in time-harmonic elastography of both MRI and ultrasound for many medical applications.

Tobias Schaeffter is the head of division of Medical Physics and metrological IT at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) in Berlin, Germany. He is also a Professor in Biomedical Imaging at TU Berlin and the Einstein Centre Digital Future. Tobias Schaeffter studied electrical engineering at TU-Berlin and did his PhD in magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) under supervision of Prof. Leibfritz at University Bremen in 1996. From 1996-2006, he worked as a Principal Scientist at the Philips Research Laboratories in Hamburg, Germany, where he managed MR-research projects , their clinical evaluation and product integration. In April 2006, he took up the Philip Harris Professorship of Imaging Sciences at King’s College London. In 2012 he became department head of biomedical engineering. Since 2015 he moved to  PTB as head of division. A major aim of his research is the investigation of fast and quantitative MR-techniques for cardiovascular applications.