Written by Maxwell Bernstein
Researchers plan to explore a new method for analyzing MRI scans through a new partnership between the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center, hosted at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and New York University Langone Health. It marks the first SQMS Center partnership that would directly advance healthcare.
When doctors analyze MRI scans—one of the most common medical-imaging techniques used to create an image of organs and tissues within a patient’s body—they use their knowledge of the human body and experience in interpreting MRI images to diagnose illness or prescribe treatment to patients.
Medical imaging scientists are now on a quest to achieve quantitative MRI, or qMRI. This innovative process would involve computers working alongside physicians to help identify and characterize tissues to complement the doctors’ interpretation of the images.
Then add quantum computing to the equation.
When fully realized, quantum computers will offer a huge increase in computing power. The algorithms these next-generation computers will use to perform calculations could considerably improve qMRI and facilitate its translation into clinical practice. If accomplished, qMRI would give doctors a powerful tool to treat patients. Doctors would then have the capability to compare MRI scans in a quantitative fashion instead of just looking at MRI images. By relying on quantifiable parameters instead of inconsistencies in the MRI images’ contrast, medical professionals and researchers could use statistics and perform machine learning across MRI scans.