Magnetic resonance imaging of lung fibrosis in interstial lung disease - physics or engineering PhD project

背景：在这个项目中，学生将与首席导师(核磁共振物理学家)、谢菲尔德的临床合作者以及一个工业合作伙伴(加拉帕戈斯制药公司)合作，开发用于评估肺纤维化的定量磁共振成像方法。目的：发展和评价多核磁共振成像技术，以评估：(1)肺弹性；(2)组织顺应性-肺动力学；(3)组织气体交换-溶解129Xe超极化MRI。其目的是开发新的定量和非侵入性技术来识别早期纤维化肺疾病和间质性肺疾病的疾病进展。作为一项创新，首席监督组在开发多核成像方法以评估肺部功能和结构并将其应用于呼吸医学的临床问题方面有着良好的记录。在这个项目中，将使用MRI弹性成像、氙气MRI和动态质子肺MRI来开发评估肺胶原和纤维化的新技术。我们将在模体、体外样本和试点临床研究中评估这些方法，并结合现有的临床肺功能测试和CT评估它们的相对敏感性。时效性，间质性肺疾病预后非常差，抗纤维化药物开发研究迫切需要新的、更灵敏的非侵入性区域特异性疾病进展生物标志物。因此，该项目在方法上具有新颖性，并具有重大临床影响的范围。

"Background, In this project the student will work with the primary supervisor (MRI physicist), clinical collaborators in Sheffield and an industrial partner (Galapagos Pharmaceuticals) to develop quantitative magnetic resonance imaging methods for the assessment of lung fibrosis. Objectives, Develop and assessment of multi-nuclear MRI techniques to assess: (i) lung elasticity (ii) tissue compliance - lung dynamics, and (iii) tissue gas exchange - dissolved 129Xe hyperpolarised MRI. The aim is to develop new quantitative and non-invasive techniques for the identification of early fibrotic lung disease and disease progression in interstitial lung disease. Novelty, The group of the primary supervisor have a track record in developing multi-nuclear imaging methods for functional and structural assessment of the lungs and applying them to clinical questions in respiratory medicine. In this project, novel techniques for assessing lung collagen and fibrosis will be developed using MRI elastography, xenon MRI and dynamic proton lung MRI. We will evaluate these methods in phantoms, ex-vivo samples and pilot clinical studies and assess their relative sensitivity alongside existing clinical lung function tests and CT.Timeliness, Interstitial lung diseases have a very poor prognosis and anti-fibrotic drug development research is in desperate need of new and more sensitive non-invasive regionally specific biomarkers of disease progression. This project therefore has methodological novelty and scope for major clinical impact.