TWINNING OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING RESEARCH INSTITUTES

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is known as the most versatile and advanced medical imaging modality capable of producing tomographic images emphasizing different tissue (material) properties and hence facilitating the diagnosis of a wide range of anomalies. The complexity and the importance of MRI make it a specific research field with dedicated research centers throughout the world. Bilkent University’s National Magnetic Resonance Research Center (UMRAM) in Turkey is an established MRI research center with an excellent research track record but limited access to European research networks. The HE Twinning program aims at networking research institutes from the Widening countries (such as Turkey) with their advanced counterparts in Europe to integrate Widening countries into the European research network. In order to integrate UMRAM into the European research networks, Bilkent University-UMRAM as the coordinating partner, together with German Cancer Research Center - DKFZ (Germany), Universitätsklinikum Freiburg (Germany), and University of Nottingham (UK) as advanced partners are forming a team to conduct an EU Horizon Twinning Project (MRITwins) in the field of Magnetic Resonance Imaging. The project team’s research expertise lies in the field of “MR Engineering,” where novel hardware and enabling software is developed for MRI. Beyond the short-term goals of the twinning project, this team is formed to make a long-term impact on MR Engineering research by joining their complementary expertise. To initiate a long-term research collaboration between the project participants, the twinning program allows for an exploratory research component limited to 30% of the total budget. The scope of the MRITwins Project includes research work where highly credible project partners will explore the topic of “re-engineering MRI scanners with open-source hardware and software” with a specific focus on the novel gradient and radiofrequency array technologies.