Unique cardiovascular imaging from the ICAN Imaging platform

ICAN IMAGING: a unique technological offering in the Paris Region

The acquisition by the IHU-ICAN of a latest-generation 1.5T cardiovascular MRI has enabled the creation of the first cardiovascular and metabolic magnetic resonance imaging platform dedicated entirely to humans in the Paris Region.

This platform gives academic, hospital and industrial researchers unique access to advanced quantitative non-invasive imaging of the cardiocirculatory system, and to the development of metabolic imaging.

These new techniques, applied directly to humans, will enable accelerated translational research focused on patients.

The platform’s expertise

The ICAN IMAGING platform combines 3 complementary activities:

Image acquisition by the MRI platform,
Standardised reference analysis,
Image management by the Core Lab, as well as project management including methodological aspects by the Biomedical Imaging Laboratory (LIB), medical aspects by theCardio-Thoracic Imaging (ICT), and regulatory, financial and communication aspects by theICAN IHU.

Image acquisition – MRI platform

Standardised and optimisedimage acquisition
Clinical research protocols
Methodological and technological research protocols
Access to cohort and populationimaging
Quality control and data management – RGPD compatible archiving

Image analysis – MRI and CT scans

Medical reading, expert labelling, adjudication
Internationally recognised expertise in cardiovascular image processing
Research and development of new biomarkers in cardiovascular imaging
Tailor-made analysis as part of diagnostic/therapeutic studies

“The aim of modern medicine is to provide people with personalised, evidence-based, non-invasive medicine that offers the best cost/benefit ratio for both patients and healthcare systems. Today, new imaging techniques such as MRI enable the early diagnosis of diseases by detecting abnormalities in organ structure or function at an infra-clinical stage. In recent years, these techniques have become more reproducible, enabling targeted treatment and better monitoring of therapeutic efficacy . Thanks to its increased sensitivity and specificity, MRI also makes it possible to reduce the number of subjects required for clinical studies based on quantitative cardiovascular parameters”

Pr Alban Redheuil, MD, PhD, Head of the Cardiovascular and Thoracic Imaging Unit (ICT) at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Scientific Director of ICAN IMAGING

Ambitious objectives

The ICAN Imaging platform, in conjunction with the ICT teams and the LIB cardiovascular team, will provide investigators and sponsors with a high-level structure and expertise in order to :

Offer a one-stop shop for setting up your academic and industrial projects, in interaction with our multidisciplinary team
Develop, validate and apply quantitative biomarkers for in vivo imagingin populations
Identify and study new determinants for earlier diagnosis and predict disease progression
Evaluate the medico-economic aspects of innovative strategies based on high-tech imaging

A multidisciplinary team specialising in cardiovascular imaging

With its international reach, the ICAN Imaging platform draws on the expertise of other major players in cardiometabolic imaging:

The ICT – Cardiovascular and Thoracic Imaging Unit (Pitié-Salpêtrière): local skills in cardio-radiology for developing imaging sequences and optimising and standardising protocols
The Biomedical Imaging Laboratory (LIB, Sorbonne University, INSERM, CNRS): expertise in image analysis and quantification to develop new imaging biomarkers
The other ICAN IHU platforms: integration of multiparametric imaging data with other Omics data, to determine new strategies for personalised patient management, using the latest data analysis techniques via Artificial Intelligence.

Head of MRI Platform and CoreLab (IHU ICAN/INSERM)
K. Bouazizi

Medical and Scientific Manager (AP-HP)
Pr A. Redheuil

Scientific Advisory Board
Pr I. Bloch (Télécom Paris), Pr D. Dormont (AP-HP), Pr G. Helft (AP-HP), Dr N. Kachenoura (INSERM), Dr F. Lethimonnier (INSERM)

Partners
DMU Diament (AP-HP), Biomedical Imaging Laboratory LIB (SU / INSERM / CNRS)

“The cardiovascular imaging team at the Biomedical Imaging Laboratory (Sorbonne University, Inserm, CNRS) founded by Nadjia Kachenoura in 2014 is a multidisciplinary team developing novel imaging biomarkers combining cardiovascular and metabolic phenotypes. Our research targets the development and validation of software for the analysis of cardiac and vascular images, particularly in MRI, combining conventional image processing algorithms and artificial intelligence. Our close interaction with ICAN Imaging will enable us to translate our biomarkers into clinical applications, and provide users with a diversified, cutting-edge offering in the field of cardiovascular imaging

Dr. Nadjia Kachenoura, PhD, INSERM Research Director, Head of the Cardiovascular Imaging Team, Biomedical Imaging Laboratory