The overall goal of MI Lab is to facilitate cost efficient health care and improved patient outcome through innovation in medical imaging, and to exploit the innovations to create industrial enterprise in Norway.

MI Lab will:

4D parasternal ultrasound recording of the left ventricle.

GE Vingmed Ultrasound

• develop ultrasound technology with anatomical detail comparable to that of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and with breakthrough for functional and molecular imaging, and to enhance ultrasound technology so that it becomes more robust, i.e image quality with reduced variance over both patient population and the skills of the system operator.
• provide ultrasound capability for general practitioners and advanced MR and ultrasound protocols for small local hospitals and imaging centres - facilitating early diagnosis of life-threatening and debilitating diseases and more frequent and cost effective follow-up of patients with chronic diseases.
• enable more universal and safer use of minimally invasive surgery - combining intra-operative imaging, surgical navigation, preoperative imaging information displayed in the operating theatre, and postoperative imaging for early detection of complications.
• enable improved image-based biological information to support medical decision-making - through the use of acquisition protocols that integrate anatomical, functional, metabolic and molecular imaging, and information from genomics and biotechnology investigations of representative biopsies.
• enable the international success of industrial enterprise in Norway - opening up new markets with innovative next generation medical imaging products and applications.

Nevro surgery: The patient has a brain tumor (yellow). BOLD fMRI and DTI are showing motor cortex for tongue movement (gray) and pyramid tracts for motor cortex (red).

NTNU MR Center

The MI Lab host, NTNU, offers a unique research environment in MRI and Ultrasound, combining an internationally recognised scientific track record with a strong industrial background and a close integration between technology researchers and medical doctors in the university hospital (St. Olavs Hospital). Moreover, three of the MI Lab partner companies - GE Vingmed Ultrasound, Mison, and FAST - won the European Information Society Technology (IST) Prize for their products in 1995, 2002 and 2004 respectively.

A main asset for MI Lab is research integration with the users in St. Olavs Hospital. The key to MI Lab success is the iterative process between innovations in technology and innovations in medical applications of the new technology. This is a prerequisite for translation of new technology into new clinical practice, and for success of new products and applications in the international market.