NICI aims to unlock the potential of emerging 7T MRI scanners and recent insights in metabolomics. This is the first step in a long-term vision of developing a non-invasive technology for imaging chemistry processes in the human body. The project has the potential of changing the face of modern-day diagnostics and dynamic monitoring of patients during their disease and treatment and provides clinicians and researchers with a powerful tool for understanding chemical processes in human organs. Fields of application include oncology (chemotherapy efficacy, radiotherapy sensitivity), cardiology (imaging the metabolic health of myocardium), internal medicine (drug efficacy), psychiatry (activated neurotransmitter integrity), orthopaedics (stress endurance tests), paediatrics (noninvasive diagnostics), and radiology (assess organ functions). The field of metabolomics will be impacted for direct validations in vivo and a direct and full view on the role and impact of heterogeneities. Finally, economics will be impacted as worked out for one case where ineffective treatments will be detected early or before treatment, preventing unnecessary costs while improving quality of life. In the NICI project, the first step towards this vision is realized: proof of concept and validation of the technology, feasibility in patients with lung cancer, tongue cancer and pancreas cancer and approach in an observational trial targeting patients with liver metastasis of gastrointestinal cancer.
