Congratulations to Susanne Schnell, PhD, recent recipient of a grant from the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR), for her project entitled “Towards improvement of risk stratification for Intracranial Aneurysms using 4D Flow MRI”.

Dr. Schnell summarizes her reasearch as follows: "Intracranial aneurysms are a life threatening disease. However, standard clinical diagnostic techniques base clinical decisions and therapy planning (surgical repair, medical treatment) on simplified parameters such as patient and aneurysm demographics. As a result, current methods provide an incomplete analysis of aneurysm physiology with respect to complex 3D structure and blood flow, which can be substantially different between aneurysms of similar size or risk factors. The aim of this project is to develop and apply a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique for the measurement of intracranial 3D blood flow velocities with an improved dynamic range, i.e. for fast and slow flow analysis in intracranial aneurysms. Our 4D Flow MRI methods will pave the way for fewer clipped aneurysms in favor of less invasive endovascular approaches. Allover, the measured flow will serve as a new marker for improved disease characterization, risk stratification, and outcome prediction". 

The award, granted within the Pilot Research Grant Program from the SIR, "is designed to fund research in areas identified as important to the advancement of interventional radiology and patient care. These type of grants generally address a specific hypothesis and generate preliminary data that could be used to justify or strengthen subsequent comprehensive applications to national peer-reviewed funding agencies".

Schnell is a member of the research team directed by Michael Markl, PhD, Associate Professor, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering .