About

Dr. Linda Knutsson is a professor at the  F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, Kennedy Krieger Institute. She also is a Professor of Medical Radiation Physics at Lund University, Sweden and group leader of the MR-physics group in Lund (40 members).

Education

Dr. Knutsson graduated with a master's degree in physics and continued to obtain a doctoral degree in medical physics at Lund University, Sweden. Her thesis focused on optimization and validation of dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI perfusion measurements.

She was promoted to associate professor 2010 and professor 2018. For her research contributions she received the Kurt Lidén’s Award - 2015, from the Swedish Society of Radiation Physics.

Dr. Knutsson has served on many ISMRM (International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine) committees, including the Workshop and Study Group Review Committee, the Chapters Committee, the Annual Meeting Program Committee (AMPC) and the Board of Trustees. She has also been the Chair of the ISMRM perfusion study group. She founded the ISMRM Nordic Chapter in 2011, and has been its president and the organizer of annual meetings from 2012-2016. Dr. Knutsson has also been an active teacher at the annual education sessions of the ISMRM. In addition she has contributing to the ESMRMB (European Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology) by serving in the executive board as secretary.

Dr. Knutsson resides on the editorial boards of the journals:  Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Scientific Reports and Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine.

Research

Dr. Knutsson’s research is mainly focused on perfusion (microvascular blood flow) and perfusion-related measurements using MRI. Main target parameters are, cerebral blood flow, cerebral blood volume, mean transit time, permeability and oxygen extraction fraction. Assessment of these parameters is important in the clinic, for example for studies of neurodegenerative diseases, depression, stroke and brain tumors.

Relevant methods that Dr. Knutsson is working with are arterial spin labelling (ASL), dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI and dynamic susceptibility contrast (DSC) MRI. Dr. Knutsson’s research also includes an emerging technique called chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) MRI to retrieve perfusion and perfusion related parameters using natural sugar. 

Her goal is to provide clinicians with methods that allow perfusion estimates. This is done by implementation and optimization of pulse sequences, mathematical post-processing of acquired data, and appropriate validation of proposed techniques.

Related Links 

Google scholar profile 

Related publications

MTT and Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption within Asymptomatic Vascular WM Lesions
B E Dewey, X Xu, L Knutsson, A Jog, J L Prince, P B Barker, P C M van Zijl, R Leigh & P Nyquist, 2021 Jun 3, In: AJNR. American journal of neuroradiology.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34083262/

Altered d-glucose in brain parenchyma and cerebrospinal fluid of early Alzheimer's disease detected by dynamic glucose-enhanced MRI
Jianpan Huang, Peter C M van Zijl, Xiongqi Han, Celia M Dong, Gerald W Y Cheng, Kai-Hei Tse, Linda Knutsson, Lin Chen, Joseph H C Lai, Ed X Wu, Jiadi Xu & Kannie W Y Chan, 2020 May, In: Science Advances. 6, 20, eaba3884.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32426510/

In vivo magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy. Technological advances and opportunities for applications continue to abound
Peter van Zijl & Linda Knutsson, 2019 Sep, In: Journal of Magnetic Resonance. 306, p. 55-65 11 p.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31377150/

APT-weighted MRI: Techniques, current neuro applications, and challenging issues
Jinyuan Zhou, Hye-Young Heo, Linda Knutsson, Peter C M van Zijl & Shanshan Jiang, 2019 Jan 20, In: Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30663162/

Arterial Input Functions and Tissue Response Curves in Dynamic Glucose-Enhanced (DGE) Imaging: Comparison Between glucoCEST and Blood Glucose Sampling in Humans
Linda Knutsson, Anina Seidemo, Anna Rydhög, Karin Markenroth Bloch, Rita R Kalyani, Mads Andersen, Pia Maly Sundgren, Ronnie Wirestam, Gunther Helms, Peter C M van Zijl & Xiang Xu, 2018 Dec 4, In: Tomography : a journal for imaging research. 4, 4, p. 164-17
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30588502/

CEST, ASL, and magnetization transfer contrast: How similar pulse sequences detect different phenomena
Linda Knutsson, Jiadi Xu, André Ahlgren & Peter C.M. van Zijl, 2018 Oct, In: Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. 80, 4, p. 1320-1340 21 p.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29845640/

Magnetization Transfer Contrast and Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer MRI. Features and analysis of the field-dependent saturation spectrum
Peter C M van Zijl, Wilfred W. Lam, Jiadi Xu, Linda Knutsson & Greg J. Stanisz, 2018, In: NeuroImage. 168, p. 222-241https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28435103/

A novel approach to measure local cerebral haematocrit using MRI
Fernando Calamante, André Ahlgren, Matthias Jp van Osch & Linda Knutsson, 2016, In: Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism. 36, 4, p. 768-780
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26661152/

Dynamic Glucose-Enhanced (DGE) MRI: Translation to Human Scanning and First Results in Glioma Patients
Xiang Xu, Nirbhay N Yadav, Linda Knutsson, Jun Hua, Rita Kalyani, Erica Hall, John Laterra, Jaishri Blakeley, Roy Strowd, Martin Pomper, Peter Barker, Kannie Chan, Guanshu Liu, Michael T McMahon, Robert D Stevens & Peter C M van Zijl, 2015, In: Tomography : a journal for imaging research. 1, 2, p. 105-114
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26779568/

Dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI with a prebolus contrast agent administration design for improved absolute quantification of perfusion
Linda Knutsson, Emelie Lind, André Ahlgren, Matthias J P van Osch, Karin Markenroth Bloch, Yulia Surova, Freddy Ståhlberg, Danielle van Westen & Ronnie Wirestam, 2014, In: Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. 72, 4, p. 996-1006
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24285621/

Absolute quantification of perfusion using dynamic susceptibility contrast MRI: pitfalls and possibilities
Linda Knutsson, Freddy Ståhlberg & Ronnie Wirestam, 2010, In: Magma (New York, N.Y.). 23, p. 1-21
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19960361/