Optimal Control and Medical Imaging

Prof. Dominique Sugny of the Université de Bourgogne, France, worked as a Hans Fischer Fellow in the Focus Group Optimal Control and Medical Imaging hosted by TUM professor Steffen Glaser.

This Focus Group aimed at applying innovative mathematical tools coming from optimal control theory to improve theoretical and experimental techniques in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. This approach allows us to explore and to experimentally reach the physical limits of the corresponding spin dynamics in the presence of typical experimental imperfections and limitations. An important goal is the optimization of image contrast and sensitivity for a given measurement time. We study both fundamental and applied problems of the control of spin systems in MRI and NMR. We anticipate that the proposed techniques will find practical applications in medical imaging in a near future in order to help the medical diagnosis.