Research

our research activities include:

  • development of MRI sequences
  • construction of mechanical devices for elastography
  • signal processing and numerical methods for the solution of inverse problems
  • viscoelastic modeling
  • pressure and elasticity in porous media
  • time-harmonic ultrasound elastography
  • micro MRE of tissue samples and animal models
  • abdominal MRE
  • cardiac MRE
  • cerebral MRE
  • MRE of skeletal muscle
  • MRE of the lung
  • elastography for the diagnosis of:
    • cardiac relaxation abnormalities
    • liver fibrosis
    • neurodegenerative processes
    • tumors

Selected Projects

High-resolution multifrequency MRE at high field strengths

High-resolution multifrequency MRE at high field strengths   Gergely Bertalan, Jürgen Braun, Ingolf Sack   Rheological constants measured on different length scales provide insight into the biomechanical properties of the tissue. However, it is largely unknown to which extend biomechanical properties are scale-invariant and if tissue mechanical parameters can be compared when acquired at different…

Longitudinal in vivo MRE study on mouse model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)

Longitudinal in vivo MRE study on mouse model of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)   Karolina Garczynska, Jing Guo   Tumor progression, reorganization and migration of cancer cells cause changes in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and stromal cells, the so called tumor surrounding environment (TSE). In the first part of the project, we plan to study longitudinally…

MRE in inflammatory neurological diseases

MRE in inflammatory neurological diseases   Helge Herthum, Ingolf Sack   High-Resolution magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) allows the investigation of spatially localized inflammatory processes in various organs and as well in the brain [1] [2]. This project aims at understanding the underlying mechanical-structural changes accompanying progressive inflammatory disease like multiple sclerosis. Viscoelastic properties of brain…

Ultrasound time-harmonic elastography for the assessment of glomerulonephritis

Ultrasound time-harmonic elastography for the assessment of glomerulonephritis   Markus Großmann, Ingolf Sack, Stephan Rodrigo Marticorena Garcia   The kidney function is of vital importance for the human metabolism, blood circulation and endocrine system. Glomerulonephritides comprises a group of immunologic renal diseases that can result in structural damage and functional failure due to inflammatory processes…

Time-harmonic ultrasound elastography of the brain

Time-harmonic ultrasound elastography of the brain   Bernhard Kreft, Heiko Tzschätzsch, Judith Bergs, Jürgen Braun, Ingolf Sack   Cerebral stiffness (CS) is related to many structural and physiological changes in the brain. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is feasible to measure CS with high spatial resolution. However, MRE suffers from poor temporal resolution. Time-harmonic ultrasound elastography…

MRE in the mouse brain

MRE in the mouse brain   Anna Morr, Rafaela Vieira da Silva, Gergerly Bertalan, Barbara Steiner, Carmen Infante Duarte, Ingolf Sack   Alterations and pathological changes in the brain can lead to changes of its viscoelastic properties, which are detectable by magnetic resonance elastography (MRE). In these projects, we study changes in viscoelasticity due to…

Designing of a realistic tissue mimicking-elastography phantom

Designing of a realistic tissue mimicking-elastography phantom   Anna Morr, Heiko Tzschätzsch, Felix Schrank, Helge Herthum, Jürgen Braun, Ingolf Sack   Viscoelastic properties of commercially available tissue-mimicking elastography phantoms are different from those of human soft tissue. Therefore, we aim to design an elastography phantom which viscoelastic properties over a wide frequency range are similar…

Rapid multi-frequency steady-state MR elastography for quantification of short-term alterations of viscoelasticity in biological soft tissue

Rapid multi-frequency steady-state MR elastography for quantification of short-term alterations of viscoelasticity in biological soft tissue   Felix Schrank, Carsten Warmuth, Lars-Arne Schaafs, Thomas Elgeti, Ingolf Sack While MR elastography (MRE) is an established imaging modality for mapping viscoelastic properties of the human liver and brain [1], there is a growing need to apply MRE…

Compression sensitive elastography

Compression sensitive elastography   Ledia Lilaj, Thomas Fischer, Jing Guo, Jürgen Braun, Ingolf Sack, Sebastian Hirsch   Background: Many diseases are associated with imbalanced fluid pressure regulation mechanisms. For example, normal pressure hydrocephalus or hepatic hypertension impose permanent or transient parenchymal pressure alterations, which are hard to detect by conventional imaging methods. MRE, sensitive to…