Dennis L. Parker, PhD

Languages spoken: English, German, French

Academic Information

Departments: Radiology and Imaging Sciences - Professor, Bioengineering - Adjunct Professor, Biomedical Informatics - Professor

Divisions: Radiology Research

Academic Office Information

dennis.parker@hsc.utah.edu

Labs

Research Interests

  • Mathematics and Physics of Medical Imaging with Emphasis on Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • MR Angiography (Rapid Scanning and High Resolution)
  • Improved Small Vessel Detail in Magnetic Resonance Angiography
  • Human Carotid Artery Plaque Imaging and Analysis
  • MR-Guided High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound for Both transcranial MRgHIFU and a Breast-Specific MRgHIFU Device
  • MR Mammography
  • Composite MRI Gradient Systems
  • Custom MR Coils - Optic Nerve

Dr. Dennis Parker earned his MS in Physics from Brigham Young University and his PhD in Medical Biophysics and Computing from the University of Utah. He is the Mark H. Huntsman endowed Professor, in the Departments of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, and Biomedical Informatics. He served as the founding Director of the Utah Center for Advanced Imaging Research from 2003 to 2016. Dr. Parker is also an investigator of the Huntsman Cancer Institute and a member of the Experimental Therapeutics Program.


With more than 40 years of experience in medical imaging research and image guided therapies, Dr. Parker has published extensively in his areas of expertise. These areas include: physics and mathematics of medical imaging, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Magnetic Resonance Angiography (MRA), and MR guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound (MRgHIFU) in breast and pancreatic cancer, as well as general cancer magnetic resonance imaging. He published the first paper on using MRI to measure temperature with the intent of guiding thermal therapy of cancer and has been one of the principal faculty in developing the University of Utah's program in MRgHIFU for thermal therapy applications.

Prior to joining the University of Utah in 1982 as an assistant professor, Dr. Parker was an assistant professor at the University of California at San Francisco. In 2000, he received the Distinguished Research Award from University of Utah and prior to this was appointed President of the Magnetic Resonance Angiography Club (1998). He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biomedical Engineers (2008) and of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (2015).

“After earning my BS in Physics, I read the book The Double Helix and realized that physics could be used in medical/biological research. During my PhD, I became interested in the great potential of computers and how they could be used, in combination with physics, to develop new methods of medical imaging. I found it very fulfilling to be able to use physics and computer science to develop technology that could see things in the body that have never been seen before. This has kept me on a challenging but fascinating journey, developing an educational/research program in medical imaging research.”

Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com/citations?user=9_0odKsAAAAJ&hl=en

Education History

Doctoral Training University of Utah
Medical Biophysics & Computing 		Ph.D.
Graduate Training Brigham Young University
Physics 		M.S.
Undergraduate Brigham Young University
Physics 		B.S.

Selected Publications

  1. Hadley JR, Oden H, Merrill R, Adams SI, Rieke V, Payne A, Parker DL (2021). Improving image quality in transcranial magnetic resonance guided focused ultrasound using a conductive screen. Magn Reson Imaging, 83, 41-49.
  2. Kim SE, Parker DL, Roberts JA, Treiman GS, Alexander M, Baradaran H, de Havenon A, McNally JS (2021). Differentiation of symptomatic and asymptomatic carotid intraplaque hemorrhage using 3D high-resolution diffusion-weighted stack of stars imaging. NMR Biomed, 34(11), e4582.
  3. Baradaran H, Eisenmenger LB, Hinckley PJ, de Havenon AH, Stoddard GJ, Treiman LS, Treiman GS, Parker DL, Scott McNally J (2021). Optimal Carotid Plaque Features on Computed Tomography Angiography Associated With Ischemic Stroke. J Am Heart Assoc, 10(5), e019462.
  4. Hofstetter LW, Fausett L, Mueller A, Oden H, Payne A, Christensen DA, Parker DL (2020). Development and characterization of a tissue mimicking psyllium husk gelatin phantom for ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging. Int J Hyperthermia, 37(1), 283-290.
  5. McNally JS, Jaffey JA, Kim SE, Alexander MD, Shumway KL, Cohn LA, Parker DL, Day RW (2019). Methemoglobin Modulation as an Intravascular Contrast Agent for Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Proof of Concept. Front Vet Sci, 6, 416.
  6. de Havenon A, Muhina HJ, Parker DL, McNally JS, Alexander MD (2019). Effect of Time Elapsed since Gadolinium Administration on Atherosclerotic Plaque Enhancement in Clinical Vessel Wall MR Imaging Studies. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol, 40(10), 1709-1711.
  7. Hadley JR, Parker DL, Beck M, Minalga E, Merrill R (2019). Interchangeable Patient-Specific Receive-Only Neck Coils for Simultaneous Imaging with Radio Frequency Head Coils. U.S. Patent No. U6077. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  8. Hadley JR, Parker DL, Merrill R (2019). Endoenteric BAlloon Coil. U.S. Patent No. U5860. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  9. Payne A, Merrill RP, Parker DL, Lighty L (2019). Pateint Support Apparatus. U.S. Patent No. U5941. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  10. Payne A, Hadley JR, MErrill RP, Minalga E, Parker DL, Lighty L (2019). Therapeutic Ultrasound breast Treatment. U.S. Patent No. U5763. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  11. Parker DL, Payne A, Svedin B, Bolster B (2019). 3D Multi-echo Stack of Stars Radial Acquisition for MRI temperature measurement. U.S. Patent No. U6158. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  12. Parker DL, Payne A, Christensen DA, de Bever J (2019). Elastography Imaging with Magnetic Resonance Imaging Guided Focused Ultrasound. U.S. Patent No. U6010. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  13. de Bever JT, Oden H, Hofstetter LW, Parker DL (2017). Simultaneous MR thermometry and acoustic radiation force imaging using interleaved acquisition. Magn Reson Med, 79(3), 1515-1524.
  14. Svedin BT, Payne A, Bolster BD Jr, Parker DL (2017). Multiecho pseudo-golden angle stack of stars thermometry with high spatial and temporal resolution using k-space weighted image contrast. Magn Reson Med, 79(3), 1407-1419.
  15. Svedin BT, Parker DL (2017). Technical Note: The effect of 2D excitation profile on T1 measurement accuracy using the variable flip angle method with an average flip angle assumption. Med Phys, 44(11), 5930-5937.
  16. Iversen MM, Christensen DA, Parker DL, Holman HA, Chen J, Frerck MJ, Rabbitt RD (2017). Low-intensity ultrasound activates vestibular otolith organs through acoustic radiation force. J Acoust Soc Am, 141(6), 4209.
  17. Hadley JR, Parker DL, Morrell GR (2015). Linear phase microstrip radio frequency trasnmit coils. U.S. Patent No. US 9,057,767 B2, 06/16/21015. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  18. Mendes J, Parker DL (2014). Intrinsic Detection of Motion in Segmented Sequences. U.S. Patent No. US 8,811,694, 08/19/2014. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  19. Mendes J, Parker DL (2014). Retrospectively Correlated Turbo Spin Echo Imaging, submitted: ECG Correlated (cine) Turbo Spin Echo Magnetic Resonance Imaging(cine TSE MRI). U.S. Patent No. Ref: U-4856, US 8,738,413; 05/27/2014. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  20. Volland NA, Kholmovski EG, Parker DL, Hadley JR (2013). Initial feasibility testing of limited field of view magnetic resonance thermometry using a local cardiac radiofrequency coil. Magn Reson Med, 70(4), 994-1004.
  21. Mendes J, Parker DL, Kim SE, Treiman GS (2013). Reduced blood flow artifact in intraplaque hemorrhage imaging using CineMPRAGE. Magn Reson Med, 69(5), 1276-84.
  22. Diakite M, Payne A, Todd N, Parker DL (2013). Irreversible change in the T1 temperature dependence with thermal dose using the proton resonance frequency-T1 technique. Magn Reson Med, 69(4), 1122-30.
  23. Jeong, EK, Parker DL, Kim SE Choi, Kholmovski EG (2013). System and Methods for Magnetic Resonance Imaging. U.S. Patent No. US 8406849, 03/26/2013. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  24. Wang Y, Morrell G, Heibrun ME, Payne A, Parker DL (2013). 3D multi-parametric breast MRI segmentation using hierarchical support vector machine with coil sensitivity correction. Acad Radiol, 20(2), 137-47.
  25. Kholmovski EG, Parker DL, DiBella EVR (2013). Systems and methods for image reconstruction of senstivity encoded MRI data. U.S. Patent No. US 8427156, 04/23/2013. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  26. Parker DL, Hadley JR, Goodrich KC (2012). Dynamic Composite Gradient Systems for MRI. U.S. Patent No. US 8,339,138, 12/25/2012. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  27. Parker DL, Kholmovski EG (2012). Method and system for motion correction in imaging systems. U.S. Patent No. US 8155389, 04/10/2012. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  28. Kholmovski E, Parker DL, DiBella EVR (2011). Systems and methods for image reconstruction of sensitivity encoded MRI data. U.S. Patent No. US 7,511,495 B2 (US 7,884,604 B2 Feb 8, 2011). Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  29. Guo J, Kholmovski EG, Zhang L, Parker DL (2010). Method and System for Parallel Reconstruction in the K-Space Domian for Application in Imaging Systems. U.S. Patent No. US 7,840,045,B2, 11/23/2010. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  30. Hadley JR, Parker DL, Burnett AJ (2009). Apparatus and Methods for Imaging Using an Anat9omical Positioning System. U.S. Patent No. US 7,613,494 B2, issued 11/3/09. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  31. Lu ZR, Parker DL. (2009). Degradable macromolecular magnetic resonance imaging contrast agents and methods thereof. U.S. Patent No. 6,982,324. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  32. Underhill HR, Yuan C, Zhao XQ, Kraiss LW, Parker DL, Saam T, Chu B, Takaya N, Liu F, Polissar NL, Neradilek B, Raichlen JS, Cain VA, Waterton JC, Hamar W, Hatsukami TS (2008). Effect of rosuvastatin therapy on carotid plaque morphology and composition in moderately hypercholesterolemic patients: a high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging trial. Am Heart J, 155(3), 584.e1-8.
  33. Parker DL, Alexander AL, Roberts JA, Chapman BE (2004). Method and Apparatus for Enhancing an Image using Data Optimization and Segmentation. U.S. Patent No. 6,674,894. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  34. Zhou R, Hammond EH, Parker D (1998). Method and system for multiple wavelength microscopy image analysis. U.S. Patent No. 5,732,150. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  35. DU YP, Parker DL (1997). Vessel enhancement filtering in magnetic resonance angiography. U.S. Patent No. 5,644,646. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  36. Parker DL, Blatter DD (1993). Three-Dimensional Hybrid Magnetic Resonance Spatial and Velocity Imaging. U.S. Patent No. 5,225,779. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
  37. Parker DL, Blatter DD (1992). Magnetic Resonance Angiography by Sequential Multiple Thin Slab Three-Dimensional Acquisition (1062 P). U.S. Patent No. 5,167,232. Washington, D.C.:U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.