POTENTIAL ROLE OF FAST FIELD CYCLING MRI IN ISCHAEMIC STROKE
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Assessing the Potential Use of Fast-Field cycling MRI IN patients with ischemic Stroke. (PUFFINS)
IRAS ID
197187
Contact name
Mary Joan Macleod
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Aberdeen
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
Research Registry, ResearchRegistry1813
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
The management of stroke has increasingly focused on early identification, early scanning and thrombolysis where appropriate. CT scan is a ‘blunt’ tool, and gives limited information in early infarction, but allows bleeding to be excluded so that clot dissolving treatment can be given.\n\nConventional MRI is of limited use in acute stroke: patients cannot tolerate the noise or duration of image acquisition. Fast Field-Cycling MRI (FFC MRI) is a new imaging modality developed exclusively in Aberdeen that uses low magnetic fields to extract information on the structure of tissues. A large part of that information is not accessible to conventional MRI or CT and several pilot studies have shown great potential for clinical use in cancer, osteoarthritis and fibrosis. FCC MRI gives the potential to identify ‘what is going on’ at the molecular level in the tissue at risk, and perhaps eventually even giving information which might aid choice of treatments. \n\nAs this technique has not previously been investigated in patients with ischaemic stroke, we aim to use FFC MRI to identify imaging biomarkers for damaged tissue in patients. We will recruit thirty patients admitted to ARI with ischaemic stroke, who are able to tolerate an MRI scan, and able to give informed consent. Patients will have baseline stroke related data recorded. They will have an FFC MRI scan performed at baseline (24-96 hours post admission) and again at day 30. By comparing normal contralateral brain with the area of ischaemia/infarction using T1 dispersion curves of the tissue, we will assess whether new imaging biomarkers can be identified with the aim of pursuing in a more detailed investigation of ischaemic stroke patients in a future study.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
16/NS/0136
Date of REC Opinion
13 Dec 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion