Jürgen Hennig

Klaus Jürgen Hennig ( born March 5, 1951 in Stuttgart ) is a German chemist and medical physicists. He is internationally recognized as one of the pioneers of magnetic resonance imaging in clinical diagnostics. He is the scientific director of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Chairman of Magnetic Resonance Development and Application Center at the University Hospital Freiburg. In 2003 he was awarded the Max Planck Research Award in the category Life Sciences / Medicine.

Life

Scientific career

From 1969 to 1977 Hennig studied chemistry in Stuttgart, London, Munich and Freiburg. In the years 1977-1981 he was a research assistant at the Institute for Physical Chemistry at the Albert -Ludwigs- University of Freiburg, where he was preparing his dissertation on NMR studies on intramolecular exchange kinetics under the direction of Herbert Zimmermann. During this time, Hennig was the inaugural lecture of his supervisor Hans -Heinrich Limbach on the work of Nobel Prize winner Paul Lauterbur first time using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI ) in contact.

From 1982 to 1983 Hennig was a post-doc at the University of Zurich, where he worked in the field of CIDNP spectroscopy. His first NMR pulse sequence he developed in 1982 for the measurement of intramolecular exchange processes. During the time in Zurich Hennig decided to work in the future in the field of NMR methods development and less in the field of chemistry.

His work at the University Hospital Freiburg Hennig began in 1984 as a research assistant in the Department of Diagnostic Radiology. There he developed in close cooperation with Bruker Medizintechnik GmbH, the RARE method. With the theme " Special recording techniques for nuclear spin tomography ," he habilitated in 1989 at the Medical Faculty of the Albert -Ludwigs- University of Freiburg.

In 1993, Hennig received a professorship at the University of Freiburg as head of the working group MR imaging in the Department of Diagnostic Radiology. To the head of the section Imaging and Functional Medicine Physics of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology, he was appointed in 1998. In 2001, Hennig was research director of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology. In the same year he founded at the University Hospital Freiburg, Magnetic Resonance Development and Application Center ( MRDAC ). A co-opted to the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics at the Albert -Ludwigs- University of Freiburg, followed in 2002.

Hennig was appointed in 2004 to a C4 professorship at Freiburg University Hospital and has since been scientific director of the Department of Diagnostic Radiology. The built up of him since 1984 and led working group on research and development in the field of magnetic resonance imaging has grown to the end of 2012 to approximately 80 employees.

Hennig, 1999 was President of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine ( ISMRM ). Since 2008 he holds a visiting professorship at the Wisconsin Institute for Medical Research of the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Since 2011 he is a member of the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

Working

From Hennig numerous fundamental contributions were to the development of magnetic resonance imaging ( MRI).

Based on the CPMG multi-echo method, developed Hennig 1984, the RARE sequence (Rapid Acquisition with Relaxation Enhancement). Through his work, the recording time of the MRI could be shortened significantly, which was a crucial step for use in clinical routine. Also, allows RARE to control the diagnostically relevant T2 - contrast MRI. The RARE method was first published in 1984 in the German magazine " The radiologist ". A first attempt for international publication was initially rejected, has already been tried out with the comment, whether this method and does not work. In 1986, followed by international publications. RARE is currently one of the standard methods in medical MRI. The method is also known by the acronyms TSE ( turbo spin echo ) and FSE ( Fast Spin Echo).

The hyper- echo method was published by Hennig 2001. Thus, the specific absorption rate ( SAR) can be significantly reduced a RARE sequence with almost complete retention of the image quality. This is for the medical application of MRI at a high flux density of the main magnetic field is important.

A concept for imaging with non-linear magnetic field gradients published Hennig 2008. Thereby, the image resolution can be increased in MRI of the brain in its outer regions.

From the work of Hennig numerous patents have emerged new MR methods.

Connections to Asia

In 1985, Hennig traveled to China to build one of the first MRI scanner in China in Guangzhou. On December 25, 1985 thus achieved the first recorded in China MR image. Then he was to further MRI installations on site in China.

Hennig 's president since 1993, founded with his participation at that time European Chinese Society for Clinical Magnetic Resonance. He is an honorary member of the Chinese Radiological Society. Hennig was named " Einstein Professor " of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2011. He received the 2010 Tsungming -Tu Award, the highest scientific award in Taiwan.

Since 2004, Hennig is a member of the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Tatarstan. He also maintains collaborations with Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore.

Awards

Quotes

" I barely had the feeling to be inventive ', I have only what I've learned about spin physics in my time in physical chemistry, applied to the present problem. "

"The world ( and the world of MR in particular) is full, impossible ' things that have made it into reality. "