Develop precise medical imaging solutions to provide clearer images for clinical practice and scientific research.
Dr. Li Rui obtained his Bachelor of Engineering and Doctor of Engineering degrees from the Department of Electronic Engineering, Tsinghua University in 2000 and 2005 respectively. He conducted postdoctoral research at the Vascular Imaging Laboratory, University of Washington, Seattle, USA in 2009. In 2011, he assumed the position of Deputy Director of the Biomedical Imaging Research Center, and also served as Associate Researcher and later Researcher in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University. Currently, he presides over one General Program of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, one Key Special Project of the 13th Five-Year Plan, one Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Plan, one Key Special Project of the Beijing Municipal Natural Science Foundation, and one Independent Research and Development Project of Tsinghua University. He also leads 4 horizontal projects and participates in 8 other projects. He has published more than 60 academic papers, including over 50 indexed by SCI, obtained 7 patents, and presented more than 100 conference papers.
Dr. Li Rui focuses on magnetic resonance research integrated with advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence. He conducts research on the development and clinical application of imaging technologies targeting atherosclerotic plaques, aneurysms, pulmonary hypertension, intracranial venous diseases, cardiac and cardiovascular diseases, etc. His technological achievements have entered industrial transformation, realizing full-chain closed-loop innovation that originates from clinical needs and is applied back to clinical practice. This serves as a typical example of the integration of medicine and engineering in the biomedical engineering discipline.
Integrate advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence to develop innovative clinical imaging solutions.
Research areas of Researcher Li Rui include: MRI sequence design, image reconstruction methods, and image post-processing algorithms integrated with technologies such as artificial intelligence; large-field-of-view multi-contrast black blood vessel wall imaging technology; acceleration and real-time imaging of 4D Flow MRI. He leverages the advantages of MRI (high resolution, high signal-to-noise ratio [SNR], and high contrast) to conduct research on the development and clinical application of imaging technologies for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, providing advanced imaging solutions supported by evidence-based medicine for clinical practice.
In terms of technology, he has developed large-field-of-view one-stop multi-contrast plaque imaging methods and ultra-fast blood flow imaging methods, which have been applied in various clinical scenarios. For plaque imaging, he developed an integrated 36-channel neurovascular imaging coil, multi-contrast three-dimensional imaging sequences, and self-trained parallel imaging acceleration algorithms. These technologies were applied in the multi-center project CAREII. Over three years, data of more than 1,000 stroke patients were collected from 14 Grade A tertiary hospitals nationwide, forming the world's largest plaque imaging database and yielding a number of clinical research outcomes. Based on this dataset, combined with deep learning algorithms, a convolutional neural network model for automatic plaque segmentation and component detection has been developed. This achievement won the Silver Award of Beijing Invention and Innovation Competition and the Third-Class Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Award.
For blood flow imaging, he applied partially separable low-rank models to accelerate 4D Flow MRI. At 8-fold undersampling, hemodynamic analysis results consistent with fully sampled data were obtained. Furthermore, this method enabled real-time blood flow imaging technology that does not require electrocardiographic (ECG) gating or respiratory control, allowing the world's first observation of blood flow status during abnormal heart rhythms in patients with arrhythmia. This technology has been applied in multiple clinical scenarios, including etiological diagnosis of venous pulsatile tinnitus, rupture risk assessment of intracranial aneurysms, and evaluation of pulmonary hypertension.
1.Zhang M#, Peng F#, Liu A*,Li R*, et al. Associations between hemodynamics and wall enhancement of intracranial aneurysm. Stroke and Vascular Neurology. 2021 Feb 25:svn-2020.
2.Zhang M#, Peng F#, Liu A*,Li R*, et al. Associations between morphology and hemodynamics of intracranial aneurysms based on 4D flow and black-blood magnetic resonance imaging. Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery. 2021 Feb;11(2):597.
3.Wei H,Li R*, et al. Evaluation of 3D multi-contrast carotid vessel wall MRI: a comparative study. Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery. 2020 Jan;10(1):269.
4.Peng F#, Zhang M#,Li R*, Liu A*, et al. Teaching Video NeuroImage: Wall enhancement with slow blood flow and thrombosis prior to basilar aneurysm rupture. Neurology. 2020 Sep 11:10-212.
5.Peng F#, Zhang M#,Li R*, Liu A*, et al. Teaching Video NeuroImages: High blood flow velocity in the parent artery prior to basilar tip aneurysm rupture. Neurology. 2019 Dec 3;93(23):1018-9.
6.Li Y,Li R*, et al. Hemodynamic assessments of venous pulsatile tinnitus using 4D-flow MRI. Neurology. 2018 Jul 11:10-212.
7.Sun A,Li R*,et al. Real-time phase-contrast flow cardiovascular magnetic resonance with low-rank modeling and parallel imaging. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. 2017 Feb 10;19(1):19.
8.Zhao X,Li R*, et al. Chinese Atherosclerosis Risk Evaluation (CARE II) study. Stroke and Vascular Neurology. 2017 Mar 1;2(1)15-20.
9.Sun A,Li R*, et al. Accelerated phase contrast flow imaging with direct complex difference reconstruction. Magnetic resonance in medicine. 2017 Mar 1;77(3):1036-48.
10.Zhou Z,Li R*, et al. STEP: Self‐supporting tailored k‐space estimation for parallel imaging reconstruction. Magnetic resonance in medicine. 2016 Feb 1;75(2):750-61.
11.Zhou Z,Li R*, et al. Evaluation of 3D multi-contrast joint intra-and extracranial vessel wall cardiovascular magnetic resonance. Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. 2015 May 27;17(1):1.
Technical Patents
1.Li Rui, Li Bo. Phantom for Carotid Artery Plaque Magnetic Resonance Imaging. China Patent, Authorized. Patent No.: CN110448298B.
2.Sun Aiqi, Zhao Bo, Li Rui. Real-Time Phase-Contrast Flow MRI with Low-Rank Modeling and Parallel Imaging. China Patent, Published. Patent No.: CN109791617.
3.Li Rui, Li Jifan, Wang Shuhao, Zhao Xihai, Xu Dongxiang, Xu Wei. Vascular Plaque Component Identification Method Based on Multi-Contrast Magnetic Resonance Imaging. China Patent, Published. Patent No.: CN108542390 A.
4.Aiqi Sun, Rui Li, Bo Zhao. Real-Time Phase-Contrast Flow MRI with Low-Rank Modeling and Parallel Imaging. PCT Patent. Patent No.: PCT/CN2017/072670.
5.Li Rui, Huang Feng, Han Shuo. Motion Artifact Correction Method and System for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. China Patent, Authorized. Patent No.: CN 104020430 B.
6.Li Yunduo, Li Rui, Yuan Chun. Magnetic Resonance Black Blood Imaging Method and System Based on Velocity-Selective Radiofrequency Pulses. China Patent, Authorized. Patent No.: CN104305959 B.
7.Wang Xinyuan, Li Rui, Zhao Xihai, Yuan Kang, Qi Ying, Yuan Chun. Carotid Artery Coil, Coil Device and Coil Equipment. China Patent, Authorized. Patent No.: CN104375104 B.
