Artificial intelligence-augmented contrast enhancement production in brain MRI

Danish start-up Cerebriu and Amsterdam UMC Radiology department team up make brain MRI less invasive, shorter and less costly for patients.

Many brain conditions, like cancer, demand gadolinium-based contrast agent injection into the blood to visualize pathology. Contrast agent is costly, environmentally unfriendly and can cause long-term side effects in patients. With 75.000 doses injected for brain MRI in the Netherlands alone, a contrast agent-reduced or -free alternative could improve the quality of life for patients and save millions in healthcare costs every year – especially when MRI scan duration is shortened too.

The joint development of Apollo SmartGAD software will involve the training and validation of an artificial intelligence software tool to create synthetically contrast-enhanced brain MRI images based on images that contain either no or less contrast agent. For that purpose, the tool will be trained on reduced contrast concentration images. As a special innovation, non-contrast agent Utrecht University-developed MR Stat sequence images will be tested as input data which provide all the classic brain MR images in a time-saving 5-minute scan rather than the current 30 minute standard.

Our team strives to be able to present a near market ready Apollo SmartGAD software tool that can process MR Stat image data to create synthetic post-contrast images, while the patient is on the scanner, which includes giving an estimate if contrast injection will be needed at all.