MULTIPLANAR AND CURVED SURFACE IMAGING OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF HYDROGEN NUCLEI IN THE SPINE

THE PRIMARY OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROPOSAL IS TO CREATE AND MARKET A SOFTWARE PRODUCT TO BE USED IN ROUTINE MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OF SPINAL DISORDERS. THIS CLINICAL PRODUCT WILL GENERATE ANATOMIC REPRESENTATIONS AND ALTERNATE VIEWS OF SUSPECT ANATOMY WITHOUT ADDITIONAL SCANNING TIME. AS A RESULT, IT WILL LEAD TO MORE ACCURATE DIAGNOSES BY PROVIDING INFORMATION NOT AVAILABLE ON CONVENTIONAL MR SCANS WITHOUT AN INCREASE IN MEDICAL COSTS. PHASE I OF THIS PROJECT DETERMINES THE FEASIBILITY OF THE PRODUCT BY ADDRESSING TECHNICAL QUESTIONS REGARDING MR DATA ACQUISITION, IMAGE GENERATION AND IMAGE PRESENTATION. A PROTOTYPICAL SOFTWARE PRODUCT FOR A PARTICULAR WORKSTATION (THE SUN MICROSYSTEM) WILL BE A TANGIBLE RESULT OF THIS STAGE. PHASE II WORK WILL CONSIST OF A REFINEMENT OF THE PRELIMINARY SOFTWARE AND ENHANCEMENT OF ITS MARKETABILITY. THIS WILL BE ACHIEVED BY EXTENDING THE FLEXIBILITY OF THE PRODUCT, MAKING IT COMPATIBLE WITH DIFFERENT MR SYSTEMS AND MEDICAL WORKSTATIONS. BASED ON THE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS OF ANEQUIVALENT PRODUCT FOR CT, IT APPEARS THAT THE PROPOSED SOFTWARE WILL BE ENTHUSIASTICALLY RECEIVED BY THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY.