2016 News (Archived)
Jia Fan and Ali Alhamud, as well as students Adam van Niekerk and Leah Morgan had abstracts accepted for presentation at the 25th Annual Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM), to be held in Honolulu, Hawaii in April.
Adam's abstract "Implementation of a 2.4 GHz wireless sensing platform for transmission of motion data from within a head coil at 3T" was among only 220 abstracts selected for a Power Pitch presentation, designed to give maximum exposure to the most interesting abstracts at the meeting.
CUBIC UCT held yet another successful Basics of MRI workshop on Friday 14th & Saturday 15th October 2016 at Groote Schuur Hospital.
The two day hands-on workshop consisted of a series of lectures followed by practical session which were based on the theory. The course content focused specifically on components of the scanner, signal creation, pulse sequences, MR contrast, imaging gradients, creation and parameters.
Participants had the opportunity to experiment with MRI parameters on the various MRI pulse sequences.
Image: Mrs Mazwi Maishi, Mrs Ingrid Op' Hof, Mrs Petty Samuels, Mr Marcin Jankiewicz and Mr Stephen Jermy
The course will be repeated in 2017. Dates to be confirmed. If you ar interested in attending this course please email cubic@uct.ac.za for further information.
Image: PHD student Adam van Niekerk
Adam van Niekerk a PhD student in the MRI research group, was recently featured in UCT news. He has invented a s,all, cost-effective device that uses vector observations of the scanner's magnetic field and gravity to perform high temporal resolution motion detection and correction during MRI scans.
Local researchers feature in NIH Global Health Matters newsletter
The May/June 2016 issue of the NIH Global Health Matters newsletter features research performed in Cape Town that uses neuroimaging to understand how alcohol consumed during pregnancy affects children’s brains. This represents a long-standing collaboration between Drs. Sandra and Joseph Jacobson from Wayne State University in Detroit, and Dr. Christopher Molteno and Prof. Ernesta Meintjes from the University of Cape Town.
Prof Ernesta Meintjes' Research Chair in Brain Imaging was just renewed for a further 5-year term! The chair is funded through the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI). Through this renewal, the South African National Research Foundation and the Department of Science and Technology confirm the excellence of Ernesta's contributions to science over the last ten years. Congratulations to Ernesta!
CUBIC UCT held its first Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance workshop on Friday 5th - Sunday 7th August at Groote Schuur Hospital.
This three day hands-on Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Workshop is specifically designed to benefit Radiographers, Radiologists and Cardiologists working on, or interested in MRI, both in a clinical and research environment.
The workshop consisted of a series of lectures, followed by practical sessions based on the theory. During the hands-on sessions, participants had the opportunity to experiment with MRI where they gained a deeper understanding on how to plan, execute and analyse Cardiac MRI scans.
A dedicated infant coil was purchased from a University Research Committee equipment grant awarded to Prof Kirsty Donald (PI, Department of Paediatrics) and Prof Ernesta Meintjes.
The coil can be used for high resolution scanning of the head and neck in infants from newborn to 18 months, enabling investigation of early brain development. During the first few months of life many new network connections are being formed, and there is not yet a large influence of confounding environmental factors on brain development.
HIV Paediatrics Workshop
Martha Holmes and Frances Robertson attended the 8th International Workshop on HIV Pediatrics in Durban on 15/16 July, where they presented some findings from the neuroimaging substudy of the CHER (Children with HIV Early Antiretroviral) trial. Results from MR spectroscopy show that at age 7 and 9 the children with HIV have higher choline and lower glutamate levels in the frontal gray matter compared to uninfected control children of the same age, in spite of having been on antiretroviral treatment since early infancy.
AIDS Conference
Martha Holmes presented findings from the neuroimaging substudy of the CHER (Children with HIV Early Antiretroviral) trial at the 21st International AIDS conference (AIDS 2016) from 18-22 July. A synopsis of differences found on multimodal neuroimaging between HIV negative children who were born to HIV positive mothers (HIV-exposed, uninfected) and HIV negative children who were born to HIV negative mothers (HIV-unexposed, uninfected), shows that in utero exposure to HIV/ART may affect multiple aspects of brain development.
Sixteen abstracts authored by members of the division of Biomedical Engineering and the department of Psychiatry and Psychology were presented at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Organization for Human Brain Mapping in Geneva in June.
These included studies on emotion regulation and functional connectivity in methamphetamine-induced psychosis and fMRI of social cognition subsequent to early childhood trauma; as well investigations into the effects of teratogens and infectious disease on brain structure and function.
Dr Frances Robertson & Dr Martha Holmes to talk at Pint of Science Festival
Dr Frances Robertson & Dr Martha Holmes will talk about their research at the Pint of Science Festival to be held in Cape Town during 23-25 May 2016. Come to Sgt Peppers in Long St, Cape Town, on Wednesday 25 May 2016, at 7.30pm for an evening with the theme 'Beautiful Mind' and hear 'What's in your head? Looking at the brain with neuroimaging'.
Ingrid Op'tHof, M.J. Holmes, T.Hamana, T.Van de Water M.F. Cotton, A.J.W. Van Der Kouwe, E.M. Meintjes, B. Laughton's poster on PEDRIATRIC NEUROIMAGING ACQUISITION AND ANALYSIS SUCCESS RATES AT AGES 5 AND 7 YEARS.
and
Petronella Samuels¹, Marcin Jankiewicz², Ntobeko A.B. Ntusi's poster on TYPES OF LATE GADOLINIUM ENHANCEMENTS IN CARDIOVASCULAR MAGNETIC RESONANCE IN HYPERTROPHIC CARDIOMYOPATHY.
were invited to present their posters at ISMRM 24th Annual Meeting & Exhibition which took place in Singapore from 7 - 13 May 2016.
CUBIC UCT held its second workshop on Basics of MRI on Friday 26 & Saturday 27 February 2016. Radiographers from all over the Western Cape attended this two day MRI hands-on workshop which was specifically designed to benefit radiographers working on, or interested in MRI in both a clinical and research environment.
Due to the good feedback received, CUBIC will repeating the course towards the end of the year (dates to be announced at a later stage) if you are interesting in attending the course please email cubic@uct.ac.za for further details.