Topic introduction:

Neuromuscular disorders are a broad class of severe rare diseases that affect children, teenagers, and adults, often with fatal outcomes. Recent therapeutic advances have given hope but also highlighted the crucial need for accurate biomarkers of disease progression and therapeutic efficacy. While magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a promising tool, it is currently unable to assess all aspects of muscle pathophysiology, most notably interstitial fibrosis, which is difficult to macroscopically differentiate from a healthy extracellular matrix except for its different contractile characteristics.
In this talk, the current state of the art of muscle MR imaging will be presented, showing the main qualitative and quantitative indicators of muscle condition and how they relate to the investigated pathologies. Particular focus will be given to dynamic MR imaging and its ability to provide additional information with respect to conventional imaging methods.

Francesco Santini studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Florence (Italy) and in 2009 got a PhD in Biophysics at the University of Basel (Switzerland) on the topics of MR Angiography and flow imaging.
Since then, he has worked at the University Hospital Basel and at the Cardiocentro in Lugano on MR Method development, primarily for cardiovascular applications and, from 2015, on MR imaging of the muscle, with specific focus on dynamic imaging of muscle contractions.
He currently is a research group leader at the Department of Biomedical Engineering managing multiple grants as PI and he is responsible for MR safety at the University Hospital Basel, holding an "Expert" from the American Board or MR Safety.