VUBME Research

Dr. Paschal's work is focused primarily on the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques and applications for the study of pulmonary circulation and pathology, myocardial disease, and spatial accuracy in high field MRI.

1. Magnetic resonance imaging quantification and characterization of pulmonary blood flow as a function of gravity, radial position, and level of vasoconstriction in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension and control subjects. Also, determination of the longitudinal relaxation times of lung tissue and the impact of large vessel signal thereon.

2. Use of MRI to study human myocardium at high field with a particular interest in diastolic dysfunction.

3. Design of MR techniques and associated post-processing algorithms to correct for spatial distortions in high field MR imaging, especially as used for functional magnetic resonance imaging.

4. Development and investigation of tools to improve education in biomedical imaging education.

1.     Cynthia B. Paschal, Kathy R. Nightingale, Kristina M. Ropella. Undergraduate Biomedical Imaging Education. Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 34(2): 232-238, February 2006

2.     D.A.Yoder, Y. Zhao, C.B. Paschal, and J.M. Fitzpatrick. MRI simulator with object-specific field map calculation. Magnetic Resonance Imaging, April 2004; Vol. 22, no. 3, pp. 315-328. http://authors.elsevier.com/sd/article/S0730725X04000189.

3.     C.B. Paschal, H.D. Morris. K-Space in the Clinic. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, February 2004; 19 (2): 145-159. (This was the #1 downloaded paper in 2004 for this journal with 987 downloads of the full paper and 696 downloads of the abstract.)

4.     Jeffrey M. Dendy, MD, Cynthia B. Paschal PhD, John Gore, PhD. Examination of the Effects of Myocardial Hypertrophy On Myocardial Microvascular Volume and Blood Oxygenation. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Thirteenth Scientific Meeting and Exhibition, Seattle, WA, May 2006.

5.     Ning Xu, Yong Li, Cynthia B. Paschal, J. Christopher Gatenby, Victoria L. Morgan, David R. Pickens, Benoit M. Dawant, J. Michael Fitzpatrick, "Simulation of Susceptibility-Induced Distortions in fMRI", Proc. Medical Imaging 2006, San Diego, CA, accepted for presentation (Feb 2006).

6.     D.J. Anderson, J.M. Dendy, C.B. Paschal. Effect of Capillary Orientation and Oxygenation on Myocardial Signal. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Thirteenth Scientific Meeting and Exhibition, Miami Beach, Florida, May 2005.

7.     J.M. Dendy, C.B. Paschal, J.C. Gore. Mapping Myocardial Microvascular Volume and Blood Oxygenation Using Iron Oxide Nanoparticles and Adenosine. International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Thirteenth Scientific Meeting and Exhibition, Miami Beach, Florida, May 2005.