Heart MRI designed for people with severe obesity
Development and validation of cardiovascular MRI techniques on a low-field, ultra-wide bore system to assess patients with severe obesity
A new wide-bore, low-field MRI system will be used to get clearer heart pictures for adults with severe obesity who have or may have heart disease.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Ohio State University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Columbus, UNITED STATES) |
| Project ID | NIH-11266181 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would lie in a new low-field (0.55T) MRI machine with an extra-wide 80 cm bore and a stronger table that can hold heavier patients, which makes it easier for people with severe obesity to fit. Researchers will adapt and refine heart-imaging techniques for this machine so the pictures are clear despite body size. The team will scan adults with severe obesity and compare image quality and useful heart measurements to current tests. The goal is to show this MRI approach can give reliable, non‑radiation heart information for people who often get poor results from other imaging methods.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults with severe obesity (for example BMI above about 40 kg/m2) who need heart imaging or have suspected heart disease are the best candidates.
Not a fit: People who cannot have an MRI (for example incompatible implants), children, or those without obesity are unlikely to benefit from this work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could give people with severe obesity clearer, safer heart imaging without extra radiation and improve diagnosis and treatment decisions.
How similar studies have performed: Low-field wide-bore MRI is a new approach with encouraging early technical reports, but applying and validating it specifically for heart imaging in severely obese patients is still novel.
Where this research is happening
Columbus, UNITED STATES
- Ohio State University — Columbus, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Simonetti, Orlando Paul — Ohio State University
- Study coordinator: Simonetti, Orlando Paul
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.