Increasing Diagnosis Rates While Reducing Examination Time: Can MR Fingerprinting Deliver on Its Promise?

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is an excellent method for diagnosis and staging of brain disease. However, lengthy scan times and sensitivity to patient motion limit its efficacy. To address this, a novel method has recently been demonstrated, called MR Fingerprinting (MRF). The investigators' improved implementation of MRF, featuring fully-quantitative data and a reduced sensitivity to patient motion, can be used to acquire an anatomical exam in less than five minutes at a standard resolution. The potential for wide applicability of this technique, combined with an implied reduction in complexity and cost of MRI exams, has generated wide interest. However, published studies have been limited to demonstrations in healthy volunteers, and the effectiveness of MRF in the clinical practice has not yet been proven. Here, the investigators aim to assess the efficacy of MRF in performing diagnostic exams avoiding sedation in children and for increasing diagnosis rates in challenging adult patients.

Sex

All

Minimum age

4 Years

Inclusion Criteria:

* ability of understanding and speaking Italian;
* patients referred to the participating imaging centres for a standard MRI procedure;
* adult healthy controls.

For adult patients: inclusion criteria will comprise movement disorders, severe cognitive impairment, expansive intracranial lesions and inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system.

Exclusion Criteria:

* contraindications to the MRI exam