The European Society of Radiology's (ESR) annual congress, ECR 2026: Rays of Knowledge, took place from March 4-8 in Vienna, and some MI faculty made their way over to present their work and represent the Department of Medical Imaging and the University of Toronto.
Submission by: MI Professor & Chair Dr. Michael Patlas, who was asked to deliver two lectures during the congress.
Title: Life in Academia: is the university hospital worth it?
(Refresher Course)
Title: Hot Topic: AI in Emergency Imaging
(Keynote Lecture)
Submission by: Former Cardiothoracic Imaging Fellow Dr. Heli Rueda-Chaparro Abstract title: CT-guided chest biopsies: impact of operator expertise on diagnostic yield and complication rate Authors: Drs.Arwa Almuitairi, Assistant Professor Farah Cadour, Assistant Professor Sonja Kandel, Professor Patrik Rogalla
Former Cardiothoracic Imaging Fellow Dr. Heli Rueda-Chaparro, along with several other MI faculty from the Joint Department of Medical Imaging (JDMI), presented their abstract, which found in a cohort of 1,453 CT-guided chest biopsies, operator experience was independently associated with higher diagnostic yield, without an accompanying increase in complication rates.
These results underscore procedural expertise as a key determinant of quality, safety, and effectiveness in image-guided thoracic biopsy.
Submission by: Assistant Professor Dr. Farah Cadour Title: Normal variations of myocardial T1, T2 and T2* values at 1.5 T cardiac MRI in sex-matched healthy volunteers Authors: Drs. Farah Cadour, Assistant Professor, J. Caudron, A. Gillibert, S. Normant, J-N. Dacher
During the congress, MI Assistant Professor Dr. Farah Cadour is presenting her abstract, which aimed to determine the normal variations of myocardial T1, T2, and T2*relaxation times on cardiac MRI obtained at 1.5 T in healthy, sex-balanced volunteers aged between 18 and 69 years.
Secondary objectives were to identify the number of healthy subjects needed for calibration and the reliability of septal measurements as a surrogate of the entire myocardium.
