MR Excellence Academy for Radiographers in Hungary

On 27-28 March, 12 radiographers from 10 countries attended the first MR Excellence Academy at the Vaci Greens Classroom in Budapest, Hungary. The purpose of the event was to demonstrate the added value of the MR Excellence Network by strengthening the professional relationship between our radiographers and improving their performance and knowledge.

Prof. Rowland Illing, CMO and Head of Digital Strategy Affidea, opened the event by emphasizing the importance of imparting newly acquired knowledge to colleagues in their local language, and asking the participants to have the courage to make changes based on learning.

After the rousing words of Prof. Illing, Peter Szatmari, MR Programme Manager, welcomed the participants and introduced Prof. Milos Lucic. He delivered a stirring lecture about expectations from the perspective of the neuroradiologists through the demonstration of informative clinical cases. This included a comprehensive summary of MR sequences from basic to advanced level.

The main focus of the course was neuro MR; after the presentation of neuroradiologists’ requirements, the group started to follow the lead of GE’s most qualified MR application specialist, Waldemar Senczenko, who introduced the team to the maze of MR pulse sequences. During the intensive two-day training we covered Diffusion Weighted Imaging (DWI), MR Spectroscopy (MRS), functional MRI (fMRI) and the different MR angiography methods. Mr. Senczenko presented possibilities for optimizing the sequences taking the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) into consideration and optimizing the efficacy of fat saturation techniques. The group were then able to apply these concepts practically, making changes to parameters visible by using the online Virtual Console powered by GE. Furthermore, the group were given a comparative insight into the 1.5T and 3T magnets and the tools we have at our disposal to overcome the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) related limitations in a 3T magnetic field.

This event was another demonstration of a successful collaboration between Affidea and GE - a perfect example of how to increase the confidence of radiographers and give them the power to optimize efficiency and raise the quality of work. Luckily it was only the first course of a four-part training series for this year, so the MR Excellence Academy will continue.