Message from SMRT Program Committee

On behalf of the Program Committee, I would like to invite you to join SMRT at the 13^th Annual Meeting of the Section for Magnetic Resonance Technologists, in Kyoto, Japan, at the Kyoto International Conference Hall.  This meeting will be held the 14^th,15^th and 16^th of May 2004, in conjunction with the Twelfth Scientific Meeting and Exhibition of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.  Building upon a very successful architecture of past meetings, the Kyoto program will be designed to fulfill the needs and aspirations of MR technologists/radiographers in both a research and clinical setting. The goal of the SMRT is to provide quality educational opportunities for the MR technologist/radiographer and to establish and maintain a high level of professionalism in the field.

The objective of this educational program is to provide technologists the best possible forum for magnetic resonance education and an understanding of principles and clinical applications of MR. The meeting will commence with a poster exhibit, poster presentations and walking tour reception at 18:30 on Friday evening, 14 May 2004. This will be a great way to learn about new and innovative clinical and research studies that are being performed by our colleagues worldwide. It also provides a great opportunity to interact with the poster authors and to meet and share ideas with fellow technologists from around the world.

An important aspect of the meeting remains the submission of abstracts for oral and poster presentations by technologists/radiographers.  Proffered papers will be interlaced throughout the sessions. We strongly encourage all technologists/radiographers to participate in the meeting by submitting an oral or poster abstract. For assistance please see instructions posted on the SMRT web site.  The deadline for SMRT abstract submissions will be 21 January 2004.  Online abstract submissions will be available on the SMRT web site.  The proffered papers and posters have been one of the highlights of past SMRT meetings.

On Saturday, during the business meeting, awards will be presented to the most outstanding papers and posters submitted in both the clinical and research arenas. Many of this years topics were chosen based on comments and feedback received from attendees of previous annual meetings.

Some of the topics will include: Virtual Colonoscopy, Breast Imaging, Diffusion Tensor MR Tractography, Ischemic Heart Disease Imaging, MR Spectroscopy, Functional Assessment of the Joints using Kinematic MRI, and many other advanced MR topics. The meeting will conclude with an expert panel, MR Safety Forum, moderated and chaired by Frank G. Shellock, Ph.D.

As Chair of the 2004 program committee, it is my pleasure to invite you to attend this meeting and join the SMRT in bringing to technologists, an exciting, quality, educational weekend in the wonderful city of Kyoto, Japan.