Current Reseach :
Dr. Kim’s research area is focused mainly on developing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques for the diagnosis of liver diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and liver fibrosis/cirrhosis. NAFLD is the most common liver disease in adults. It includes a broad spectrum of pathological conditions of the liver ranging from simple fatty liver to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Chronic liver injury, regardless of etiology, produces liver fibrosis and its end-stage, cirrhosis, is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Nonetheless, liver biopsy remains the current gold-standard for assessing these diseases. To address this urgent clinical issue, Dr. Kim has been investigating the efficacy of MRI as a means of non-invasively diagnosing these liver diseases. Currently, Dr. Kim's research is divided into:
- MRI water-fat decomposition using rapid imaging techniques
- Chemical exchange-dependent saturation transfer (CEST)
- Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI in conjunction with hepatic perfusion models.
Publications :
Kim H, Taksali SE, Dufour S, Befroy D, Goodman TR, Petersen KF, Shulman GI, Caprio S, Constable RT. A Comparative MR Study of Hepatic Fat Quantification Using Single-Voxel Proton Spectroscopy, Two-Point Dixon and Three-Point IDEAL. Magn Reson Med, In Press.
Kim H, Booth CJ, Pinus AB, Chen P, Lee A, Qiu M, Whitlock M, Murphy PS, Constable RT. Hepatic Steatosis, Macromolecule Content, Perfusion Parameters, and Their Correlations: A Preliminary MRI Study in Rats with CCl4-Induced Hepatic Fibrosis/Cirrhosis. Radiology, In Press.
Kim H, Pinus AB, Wang J, Murphy PS, Constable RT. On the Application of Chemical Shift-Based Multipoint Water-Fat Separation Methods in Balanced SSFP Imaging. Magn Reson Med 2007;58:413-418.
Wang J, Qiu M, Kim H, Constable RT. T1 Measurements Incorporating Flip Angle Calibration and Correction In Vivo. J Magn Reson 2006;182:283-292.
Kim H, McGrath BM, Silverstone PH. A Review of the Possible Relevance of Inositol and the Phosphatidylinositol Second Messenger System (PI-cycle) to Psychiatric Disorders - Focus on Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) Studies. Hum Psychopharmacol Clin Exp 2005;20:1-18.
Kim H, Thompson RB, Hanstock CC, Allen PS. The Variability of Metabolite Yield Using STEAM or PRESS Sequences In Vivo at 3.0T Illustrated with Myo-Inositol. Magn Reson Med 2005;53:760-769.
Silverstone PH, McGrath BM, Kim H. Bipolar Disorder and Myo-Inositol: A Review of the MRS Findings. Bipolar Disorders 2005;7:1-12.
Kim H, Wild JM, Allen PS. Strategy for the Spectral Filtering of Myo-Inositol and Other Strongly-Coupled Spins. Magn Reson Med 2004;51:263-272.
Allen PS, Kim H, Thompson RB, Hanstock CC. (De-)Coupling and Spectral Editing in In-Vivo Spectroscopy. Educational Courses Syllabus, ISMRM 2003, Toronto, Canada, p 767-774.
