Christoph Stefan Aigner, Ph.D. (last update Oct 2018)

(Oct 2012- Oct 2018)

Thesis: Magnetic resonance RF pulse design for simultaneous multislice imaging
Supervisor: Rudolf Stollberger, Ph.D.
Evaluator: Joseph V. Hajnal, Ph.D.

Research Interest 

• RF pulse design and MRI sequence development/programming
• Simultaneous multislice (SMS) imaging
• Arterial spin labeling (ASL)
• Spectroscopy

Teaching 

• Biosignal Processing, lecture (717.330, under supervision of Prof. H. Scharfetter), 2014-2018.
• Biosignal Processing, practical course (717.331), 2014-2018.
• Fundamentals of Biomedical Engineering, laboratory (717.300, MRI, Blood Pressure, Spirometry), 2014-2018.
• Imaging laboratory (717.340, fast MRI), 2014-2018.
• Biomedical Sensor Systems, laboratory (718.019, Electrochemistry: Cyclic Voltammetry), 2017-2018.

Awards and Stipends

1. Magna cum laude award ISMRM 26 (2018), Paris, France 
2. 1st place in the ISMRM RF pulse design challenge 2015: Simultaneous Multislice Acquisition. Member of the winning team "rfcontrol" together with A.Rund, C.Clason, K.Kunisch and R. Stollberger; (2015-2016), Singapore
   MRM Highlights: Q&A with 2015 ISMRM Challenge Winners
   MRM full paper: W. Grissom and K. Setsompop et al., MRM 2016. doi:10.1002/mrm.26512
3. Magna cum laude award ISMRM 23 (2015), Toronto, Canada
4. ISMRM Educational Stipend 2014, 2015 and 2016
5. “Leistungsstipendium TU Graz” for excellent university performance (2012)

Journal Publications

1. B. Rassler, A. Schwertfeger, C.S. Aigner and G. Pfurtscheller. ”Switch-off” of respiratory sinus arrhythmia can occur in a minority of subjects during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Frontiers in Physiology 2018; in press, doi: 10.3389/fphys.2018.01688
2. G. Pfurtscheller, A. Schwerdtfeger, D. Fink, C. Brunner, C.S. Aigner, J. Brito, A. Andrade. MRI-related anxiety in healthy individuals, intrinsic BOLD oscillations at 0.1 Hz and heart rate variability in low frequency bands. PLoS ONE 2018; in production
3. D. Bagga, C.S. Aigner, C. Cecchetto, F.P.S. Fischmeister and V. Schöpf. Investigating Sex-Specific Characteristics of Nicotine Addiction Using Metabolic and Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging. European Addiction Research 2018;24:267–277, doi.org/10.1159/000494260
4. D. Bagga, C.S. Aigner, J.L. Reichert, C. Cecchetto, F.P.S. Fischmeister, P. Holzer, C. Moissl-Eichinger and V. Schöpf. Influence of 4-week multi strain probiotic administration on resting-state functional connectivity in healthy volunteers. European Journal of Nutrition 2018; in press, doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2018.1460015
5. D. Bagga, J.L. Reichert, K. Koschutnig, C.S. Aigner, P. Holzer, K. Koskinen, C. Moissl-Eichinger and V. Schoepf. Probiotics drive gut microbiome triggering emotional brain signatures. Gut Microbes 2018; in press, doi.org/10.1080/19490976.2018.1460015
6. G. Pfurtscheller, A. Schwerdtfeger, A. Seither-Preisler, C. Brunner, C.S. Aigner, J. Calisto, J. Gens and A. Andrade. Synchronization of intrinsic 0.1-Hz blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) oscillations in amygdala and prefrontal cortex in subjects with increased state anxiety. European Journal of Neuroscience 2018; 47(5):417-426, doi.org/10.1111/ejn.13845
7. A. Rund^†, C.S. Aigner^†, K. Kunisch, and R. Stollberger. Simultaneous multislice refocusing via time optimal control. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2018;80(4):1416-1428, doi.org/10.1002/mrm.27124
8. A. Rund, C.S. Aigner, K. Kunisch, and R. Stollberger. Magnetic Resonance RF pulse design by optimal control with physical constraints. IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging 2018;37(2):461-472, doi.org/10.1109/TMI.2017.2758391
9. S.M. Spann, K.S. Kazimierski, C.S. Aigner, M. Kraiger, K. Bredies, R. Stollberger. Spatio-temporal TGV denoising for ASL perfusion imaging. NeuroImage 2017;157:81-96, doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.05.054
10. G. Pfurtscheller, A. Schwerdtfeger, A. Seither-Preisler, C. Brunner, C.S. Aigner, J. Brito, M.P. Carmo, A. Andrade. Brainheart communication: Evidence for ”central pacemaker” oscillations with a dominant frequency at 0.1 Hz in the cingulum. Clinical Neurophysiology 2017;128(1):183-193, doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2016.10.097
11. G. Pfurtscheller, A. Schwerdtfeger , C. Brunner, C.S. Aigner, D. Fink, J. Brito, M.P. Carmo, A. Andrade. Distinction between Neural and Vascular BOLD Oscillations and Intertwined Heart Rate Oscillations at 0.1 Hz in the Resting State and during Movement. PLoS ONE 2017;12(1):e0168097, doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0168097
12. C.S. Aigner, C. Clason, A. Rund and R. Stollberger. Efficient high-resolution RF pulse design applied to simultaneous multi-slice excitation. Journal of Magnetic Resonance 2016;263:33-44, doi.org/10.1016/j.jmr.2015.11.013

Proceedings

1. D. Bagga, C.S. Aigner, C. Cecchetto, F. Fischmeister, A. Specht, F. Schwaerzel and V. Schöpf. The interplay between gender, GABA levels, and nicotine addiction: A proton MRS investigation. OHBM-2018, Singapore, Singapore (JUN, 2018)

2. C.S. Aigner, A. Rund, S. Abo Seada, S. Malik, J.V. Hajnal, K. Kunisch and R. Stollberger. Time-optimal control based RF pulse design under gradient imperfections. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 26, Paris, France (JUN 16-21, 2018), Magna cum laude award

3. A. Rund, C.S. Aigner, L. Nohava, R. Frass-Kriegl, E. Laistler, K. Kunisch and R Stollberger. Optimal control based design of parallel transmission RF pulses with minimum local SAR. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 26, Paris, France (JUN 16-21, 2018)

4. S.M. Spann, C.S. Aigner, M. Schlögl, A. Lesch, K. Bredies, R. Stefan, D. Pinter, L. Pirpamer and R. Stollberger. Acceleration of arterial spin labeling data using spatio-temporal total generalized variation (TGV) reconstruction. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 26, Paris, France (JUN 16-21, 2018), Summa cum laude award

5. S.M. Spann, M. Schlögl, C.S. Aigner, K. Koschutnig, M. Holler, K. Bredies and R. Stollberger. Denoising of functional Arterial Spin Labeling (fASL) perfusion data using infimal convolution of total generalized variation functionals (ICTGV). Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 26, Paris, France (JUN 16-21, 2018), Magna cum laude award

6. A. Rund, C.S. Aigner, K. Kunisch and R. Stollberger. Magnetic Resonance Radiofrequency Pulse Design by Optimal Control. 9th Vienna Conference on Mathematical Modelling, Austria (JAN, 2018)
7. L. Nohava, A. Kuehne, C.S. Aigner, A. Rund, E. Moser, E. Laistler and R. Frass Kriegl. Evaluation of RF pulses for 8-channel pTx systems at 7T with respect to hardware constraints and the trade-off between local 10g SAR and excitation accuracy. ESMRMB Congress (2017), Barcelona, Spain (OCT 19 - 21, 2017)
8. D. Bagga, K. Koschutnig, B. Mohan, C.S. Aigner, J. Reichert, P. Holzer and V. Schӧpf. When gut speaks, brain listens: Exploring the influence of gut microbiota on emotional decision making. OHBM-2017, Vancouver, Canada (JUN 25-29, 2017)
9. C.S. Aigner, A. Rund, B. Bilgic, B. Gagoski, K. Setsompop, K. Kunisch and R. Stollberger. Application of time-optimal Simultaneous Multi-Slice refocusing to TSE/RARE. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 25, Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA (APR 22-27, 2017)
10. A. Rund, C.S. Aigner, K. Kunisch and R. Stollberger. Simultaneous multislice refocusing by time-optimal control. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 25, Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA (APR 22-27, 2017)
11. A. Rund, C.S. Aigner, K. Kunisch and R. Stollberger. RF pulse design by optimal control with physical constraints. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 25, Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA (APR 22-27, 2017)
12. A. Petrovic, C.S. Aigner and R. Stollberger. A time domain signal equation for multi-echo spin-echo sequences with arbitrary exciation and refocusing angle and phase. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 25, Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA (APR 22-27, 2017)
13. M. Schloegl, S. Spann, C.S. Aigner, M. Holler, K. Bredies and R. Stollberger. Improved Denoising of Dynamic Arterial Spin Labeling with Infimal Convolution of Total Generalized Variation Functionals (ICTGV). Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 25, Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA (APR 22-27, 2017)
14. S.M. Spann, K.S. Kazimierski, C.S. Aigner and R. Stollberger. A denoising method for arterial spin labeling data based on total generalized variation (TGV) with a spatial varying regularization parameter. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 25, Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA (APR 22-27, 2017)
15. D. Bagga, K. Koschutnig, B. Mohan, C.S. Aigner, J. Reichert, P. Holzer and V. Schӧpf. The Gut-Brain-Axis: from gut feelings to gut memory.  Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 25, Honolulu, Hawai'i, USA (APR 22-27, 2017)
16. C.S. Aigner, C. Clason, A. Rund, A. Petrovic and R. Stollberger. Design of complex RF pulse shapes for asymmetric excitation patterns via optimal control. BMT 2016 „Dreiländertagung“ Swiss, Austrian and German Societies of Biomedical Engineering, Basel, Switzerland (4.-6.10.2016); oral presentation
17. S.M. Spann, K.S. Kazimierski, C.S. Aigner, M. Kraiger and R. Stollberger; Influence of denoising techniques on the absolute CBF quantification of ASL perfusion data. BMT 2016 „Dreiländertagung“ Swiss, Austrian and German Societies of Biomedical Engineering, Basel, Switzerland (4.-6.10.2016); traditional poster presentation
18. M. Bödenler, C.S. Aigner, A. Rund, C. Clason and R. Stollberger. Fast Optimization of RF Excitation. ESMRMB Congress (2016) 29 (Suppl 1):S247–S400, Vienna, Austria (01.10.2016); oral presentation
19. S.M. Spann, C.S. Aigner, K.S. Kazimierski, Markus Kraiger and R. Stollberger. Total generalized variation (TGV) for spatio-temporal denoising of high resolution ASL perfusion data. ESMRMB Congress (2016) 29 (Suppl 1):S247–S400, Vienna, Austria (01.10.2016); lightning talk and traditional poster presentation
20. C.S. Aigner (together with A. Rund). Towards tailored refocusing in minimum time. Imaging with Modulated/Incomplete Data 2016, Graz, Austria (22.-24.09.2016); oral presentation
21. M. Bödenler, C.S. Aigner, A. Rund, C. Clason and R. Stollberger. Fast Optimization of RF Excitation. Imaging with Modulated/Incomplete Data 2016, Graz, Austria (22.-24.09.2016); poster presentation
22. S.M. Spann, K.S. Kazimierski, C.S. Aigner, Markus Kraiger and R. Stollberger. Total generalized variation (TGV) for spatio-temporal denoising of high resolution ASL perfusion data. Imaging with Modulated/Incomplete Data 2016, Graz, Austria (22.-24.09.2016); poster presentation
23. C.S. Aigner, C. Clason, A. Rund and R. Stollberger. Low SAR RF-pulse design by joint optimization of RF and gradient shape with physical constraints. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 24, Singapore, Singapore (11.05.2016); poster and oral presentation in the Joint Study Group Session: High Field Systems & Applications and MR Safety

24. C.S. Aigner, C. Clason, A. Rund and R. Stollberger. RF pulse design for simultaneous multislice excitation with highly reduced B1 peak amplitude. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 23, Toronto, Canada (04.06.2015), oral, Magna cum laude award

25. C.S. Aigner, C. Clason, A. Rund and R. Stollberger. SAR reduced excitation by joint design of RF pulse and slice selective gradient shape. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 23, Toronto, Canada (03.06.2015); poster
26. A. Lesch, A. Petrovic, T.J. Sumpf, C.S. Aigner and R. Stollberger. Fast and Accurate Quantification of T1, T2 and Proton Density using IR bSSFP with Slice Profile Correction and Model Based Reconstruction. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 23, Toronto, Canada (03.06.2015); poster
27. C.S. Aigner, C. Clason, A. Rund and R. Stollberger. Validation of a flexible optimal control approach for RF-pulse-design including relaxation effects and SAR. UMIT - Lecture Notes in Biomedical Computer Science and Mechatronics: 23 - 24 (2014); talk
28. C.S. Aigner, C. Clason, A. Rund and R. Stollberger. RF pulse design for low SAR simultaneous multislice (SMS) excitation using optimal control. Proc. Intl. Soc. Mag. Reson. Med. 22: 1448 - 1448 (2014); poster
29. C.S. Aigner, C. Clason, A. Rund and R. Stollberger.RF pulse design for low SAR simultaneous multislice (SMS) excitation using optimal control. SFB Workshop: Imaging with Modulated/Incomplete Data (2014); poster
30. C.S. Aigner, C. Diwoky and R. Stollberger. Development of a pulseoximeter to measure the oxygen saturation and the heartrate of sedated mice. Biomedizinische Technik, 58 Suppl. 1 (2013); poster

Invited Talks