Ghazal Yoosefian (right), a research assistant at the Medical Imaging Research Institute of the IU School of Medicine, works with Yanni Pandelidis (left) from Cook Medical in the lab. [Photo by Liz Kaye/Indiana University]
The iMRI Center of Excellence news comes amid a five‑year agreement announced last year between Cook Medical and the Indiana University Launch Accelerator for Biosciences (IU LAB) to translate IU research into real‑world healthcare applications.
The iMRI Center of Excellence is intended to combine device engineering, imaging science, and clinical research infrastructure to accelerate the development and adoption of MRI‑guided technologies in hospitals and health systems.
A University of Chicago Medicine article lists CT scans, fluoroscopy and ultrasound as common imaging technologies used in interventional procedures.
However, MRI’s superior soft-tissue contrast could offer advantages in particular procedures. Plus, MRI doesn’t produce radiation.
Indiana University will serve as a model site for determining how to translate iMRI into future clinical practice, according to Cook Medical. The IU School of Medicine’s Medical Imaging Research Institute (MIRI) will serve as the Center of Excellence’s clinical and imaging research hub. Meanwhile, the FAMES–Cook initiative will combine materials science, computational modeling, and advanced fiber manufacturing to create MR‑visible and unique sensing devices designed specifically for interventional MRI environments.
“Our mission for iMRI is bold: to enable safer, more precise, and more effective procedures using interventional MRI, and this collaboration reflects Cook’s accelerated approach to innovation and moving more quickly to bring our new ideas to patients,” Pete Polverini, VP of Bloomington, Indiana–based Cook Medical’s interventional MRI division.
