Humboldt Fellowship for Simon Lévy
Researcher from Erlangen receives prestigious fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for research of the latest MRI systems
Inflammatory foci, vascular diseases, micrometastases – many clinical conditions can only be detected if the structures and functions of organs, tissues and joints can be precisely assessed. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) helps with this. MRI is a reliable and non-invasive imaging procedure that delivers precise results. Nevertheless, there are ways to further improve the technology and thus the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. This is exactly the field of research of Dr. Simon Lévy, who recently received the prestigious fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The funding enables him to develop new methods for MRI of the spinal cord at the Institute of Radiology (Director: Prof. Dr. Michael Uder) of the University Hospital Erlangen in the research groups Metabolic and Functional MR Imaging (Head: Prof. Dr. Armin Nagel) and Digital Health Data Center (Head: PD Dr. Sebastian Bickelhaupt). To accomplish this, he uses the latest MRI systems with magnetic field strengths of up to 7 Tesla to image the smallest structures in the spinal cord.
MRI works with a strong magnetic field and radio waves, the magnetic field strength is specified in Tesla. While MRI systems with 1.5 and 3 Tesla are already established for clinical use, ultra-high-field MRI with 7 Tesla, which corresponds to 140,000 times the strength of the earth’s magnetic field, has also been approved for a few years. Scanners of this magnetic field strength can be used to visualize even the finest structures and metabolic processes in tissue. “How information from 7 Tesla ultra-high field MRI can be used to improve the image quality compared to the more widely used 1.5 or 3 Tesla MRI systems or to shorten the measurement time is the subject of my research,” explains Dr. Simon Lévy. “In addition, my team and I are trying to develop techniques to study blood flow in the spinal cord without the use of contrast agents because they are not well tolerated by some patients and also because the products are expensive for the healthcare system.”
Outstanding research environment
In the Huguenot town, Simon Lévy finds globally unique conditions for his project: “Erlangen offers an amazing environment for MRI research. The facilities here, the excellent equipment, the constant exchange with doctors and the collaboration with Siemens Healthineers AG, which is based here and develops the systems – there are no better conditions anywhere else. I also really appreciate the team spirit here. When I arrived in Erlangen, there was a lockdown due to the pandemic – nevertheless, my colleagues made my start as pleasant as possible,” enthuses the 31-year-old, who studied mathematics and physics in Paris and biomedical engineering in Montreal, among other things. He earned his doctorate at the University of Aix-Marseille with his work on 7 Tesla MRI of the spinal cord.
Another special feature is that the University Hospital Erlangen can provide all clinically approved whole-body MRI field strengths: 0.55, 1.5, 3 and 7 Tesla. “This is perfect for performing comparative studies. While a higher field strength provides a higher signal-to-noise ratio, it also presents more technical challenges and additional exclusion criteria for patients, and requires more powerful clinical facilities,” Dr. Lévy explains. In particular, he said, the recently installed high-power, low-field-strength 0.55 Tesla MRI offers several practical advantages; the device also has comparatively low manufacturing and maintenance costs and does not require powerful infrastructure, making it suitable for developing regions or remote areas. “We would like to take advantage of the higher image quality we get at 7 Tesla to improve on imaging at 0.55 Tesla thanks to super-resolution deep-learning methods,” he said. This solution would enable high-quality diagnostic imaging with a low-cost MRI system.”
About the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Today’s Alexander von Humboldt Foundation was founded in 1953 with the aim of promoting international cooperation in research, advancing scientific progress and ultimately strengthening Germany as a center of science. With the Humboldt Research Fellowship, the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation supports above-average qualified scientists and scholars from all over the world.