Magnetic Resonance Imaging - Articles in Press

Optimal real-time estimation in diffusion tensor imaging - Corrected Proof

2012-02-03

Abstract: Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) constitutes the most used paradigm among the diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (DW-MRI) techniques due to its simplicity and application potential. Recently, real-time estimation in DW-MRI has deserved special attention, with several proposals aiming at the estimation of meaningful diffusion parameters during the repetition time of the acquisition sequence. Specifically focusing on DTI, the underlying model of the noise present in the acquired data is not taken into account, leading to a suboptimal estimation of the diffusion tensor. In this paper, we propose an optimal real-time estimation framework for DTI reconstruction in single-coil acquisitions. By including an online estimation of the time-changing noise variance associated to the acquisition process, the proposed method achieves the sequential best linear unbiased estimator. Results on both synthetic and real data show that our method outperforms those so far proposed, reaching the best performance of the existing proposals by processing a substantially lower number of diffusion images.

Signal evolution in the local magnetic field of a capillary — analogy to the damped driven harmonic oscillator - Corrected Proof

2012-02-03

Abstract: The temporal behavior of the magnetization decay caused by the local inhomogeneous magnetic field of a capillary is analyzed. Respecting the diffusion of the spins surrounding the capillary and the strength of the susceptibility difference between the capillary and the surrounding medium, it is possible to distinguish different dephasing regimes. Each dephasing regime can be related to a certain characteristic form of the magnetization decay. If the influence of the diffusion dominates, the magnetization exhibits a monotonic decay. In the opposite case of dominating influence of the susceptibility effects, the magnetization shows an oscillating behavior. It can be shown that the dephasing process is closely related to the behavior of a damped driven harmonic oscillator.

Multichannel transceiver dual-tuned RF coil for proton/sodium MR imaging of knee cartilage at 3 T - Corrected Proof

2012-02-01

Abstract: Sodium magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is a promising technique for detecting changes of proteoglycan (PG) content in cartilage associated with knee osteoarthritis. Despite its potential clinical benefit, sodium MR imaging in vivo is challenging because of intrinsically low sodium concentration and low MR signal sensitivity. Some of the challenges in sodium MR imaging may be eliminated by the use of a high-sensitivity radiofrequency (RF) coil, specifically, a dual-tuned (DT) proton/sodium RF coil which facilitates the co-registration of sodium and proton MR images and the evaluation of both physiochemical and structural properties of knee cartilage. Nevertheless, implementation of a DT proton/sodium RF coil is technically difficult because of the coupling effect between the coil elements (particularly at high field) and the required compact design with improved coil sensitivity.In this study, we applied a multitransceiver RF coil design to develop a DT proton/sodium coil for knee cartilage imaging at 3 T. With the new design, the size of the coil was minimized, and a high signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was achieved. DT coil exhibited high levels of reflection S11 (∼−21 dB) and transmission coefficient S12 (∼−19 dB) for both the proton and sodium coils. High SNR (range 27–38) and contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) (range 15–21) were achieved in sodium MR imaging of knee cartilage in vivo at 3-mm3 isotropic resolution. This DT coil performance was comparable to that measured using a sodium-only birdcage coil (SNR of 28 and CNR of 20). Clinical evaluation of the DT coil on four normal subjects demonstrated a consistent acquisition of high-resolution proton images and measurement of relative sodium concentrations of knee cartilages without repositioning of the subjects during the same MR scanning session.

Effects of variable blast pressures on blood flow and oxygen saturation in rat brain as evidenced using MRI - Corrected Proof

Cynthia Bir, Pamela VandeVord, Yimin Shen, Waqar Raza, E. Mark Haacke — 2012-01-30

Abstract: It has been recognized that primary blast waves may result in neurotrauma in soldiers in theater. A new type of contrast used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), susceptibility-weighted imaging (SWI), has been developed that is based on the different susceptibility levels in diverse tissues and can detect decreases in cerebral blood flow (CBF) using inferred oxygen saturation changes in tissue. In addition, a continuous arterial spin-labeled (ASL) MRI sequence was used as a direct measure of regional CBF within the brain tissue. Animals were subjected to whole-body blast exposures of various overpressures within a gas-driven shock tube. When exposed to low levels of overpressure, most rats demonstrated no obvious changes between pre- and postexposure in the conventional MR images. CBF changes measured by SWI and ASL were significantly higher for the overpressure exposed groups as compared to the sham group and tended to increase with pressure increases at the highest two pressures. In the hippocampus, all blast animals had a reduction in the CBF consistently in the range of 0–27%. In summary, low levels of primary blast pressure exposure demonstrated a significant physiologic effect to the brain up to 72 h postexposure.

Novel multisection design of anisotropic diffusion phantoms - Corrected Proof

2012-01-30

Abstract: Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging provides access to fiber pathways and structural integrity in fibrous tissues such as white matter in the brain. In order to enable better access to the sensitivity of the diffusion indices to the underlying microstructure, it is important to develop artificial model systems that exhibit a well-known structure, on the one hand, but benefit from a reduced complexity on the other hand. In this work, we developed a novel multisection diffusion phantom made of polyethylene fibers tightly wound on an acrylic support. The phantom exhibits three regions with different geometrical configuration of fibers: a region with fibers crossing at right angles, a region with parallel fibers and homogeneous density, and, finally, a region with parallel fibers but with a gradient of fiber density along the axis of symmetry. This gives rise to a gradual change of the degree of anisotropy within the same phantom. In this way, the need to construct several phantoms with different fiber densities is avoided, and one can access different fractional anisotropies in the same experiment under the same physical conditions. The properties of the developed phantom are demonstrated by means of diffusion tensor imaging and diffusion kurtosis imaging. The measurements were performed using a diffusion-weighted spin-echo and a diffusion-weighted stimulated-echo pulse sequence programmed in-house. The influence of the fiber density packing on the diffusion parameters was analyzed. We also demonstrate how the novel phantom can be used for the validation of high angular resolution diffusion imaging data analysis.

Cross-sectional investigation of correlation between hepatic steatosis and IVIM perfusion on MR imaging - Corrected Proof

2012-01-30

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between liver fat fraction (FF) and diffusion parameters derived from the intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) model. Thirty-six subjects with suspected nonalcoholic fatty liver disease underwent diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging with 10 b-values and spoiled gradient recalled echo imaging with six echoes for fat quantification. Correlations were measured between FF, transverse relaxivity (R2⁎), diffusivity (D) and perfusion fraction (f). The primary finding was that no significant correlation was obtained for D vs. FF or f vs. FF. Significant correlations were obtained for D vs. R2⁎ (r=−0.490, P=.002) and f vs. D (r=−0.458, P=.005). The conclusion is that hepatic steatosis does not affect measurement of perfusion or diffusion and therefore is unlikely to confound the use of apparent diffusivity to evaluate hepatic fibrosis.

Measurement and characterization of the human spinal cord SEEP response using event-related spinal fMRI - Corrected Proof

Chase R. Figley, Patrick W. Stroman — 2012-01-30

Abstract: Although event-related fMRI is able to reliably detect brief changes in brain activity and is now widely used throughout systems and cognitive neuroscience, there have been no previous reports of event-related spinal cord fMRI. This is likely attributable to the various technical challenges associated with spinal fMRI (e.g., imaging a suitable length of the cord, reducing image artifacts from the vertebrae and intervertebral discs, and dealing with physiological noise from spinal cord motion). However, with many of these issues now resolved, the largest remaining impediment for event-related spinal fMRI is a deprived understanding of the spinal cord fMRI signal time course. Therefore, in this study, we used a proton density-weighted HASTE sequence, with functional contrast based on signal enhancement by extravascular water protons (SEEP), and a motion-compensating GLM analysis to (i) characterize the SEEP response function in the human cervical spinal cord and (ii) demonstrate the feasibility of event-related spinal fMRI. This was achieved by applying very brief (1 s) epochs of 22°C thermal stimulation to the palm of the hand and measuring the impulse response function. Our results suggest that the spinal cord SEEP response (time to peak ≈8 s; FWHM ≈4 s; and probably lacking pre- and poststimulus undershoots) is slower than previous estimates of SEEP or BOLD responses in the brain, but faster than previously reported spinal cord BOLD responses. Finally, by detecting and mapping consistent signal-intensity changes within and across subjects, and validating these regions with a block-designed experiment, this study represents the first successful demonstration of event-related spinal fMRI.

Globally optimized fiber tracking and hierarchical clustering — a unified framework - Corrected Proof

Xi Wu, Mingyuan Xie, Jiliu Zhou, Adam W. Anderson, John C. Gore, Zhaohua Ding — 2012-01-30

Abstract: Structural connectivity between cortical regions of the human brain can be characterized noninvasively with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-based fiber tractography. In this paper, a novel fiber tractography technique, globally optimized fiber tracking and hierarchical fiber clustering, is presented. The proposed technique uses k-means clustering in conjunction with modified Hubert statistic to partition fiber pathways, which are evaluated with simultaneous consideration of consistency with underlying DTI data and smoothness of fiber courses in the sense of global optimality, into individual anatomically coherent fiber bundles. In each resulting bundle, fibers are sampled, perturbed and clustered iteratively to approach the optimal solution. The global optimality allows the proposed technique to resist local image artifacts and to possess inherent capabilities of handling complex fiber structures and tracking fibers between gray matter regions. The embedded hierarchical clustering allows multiple fiber bundles between a pair of seed regions to be naturally reconstructed and partitioned. The integration of globally optimized tracking and hierarchical clustering greatly benefits applications of DTI-based fiber tractography to clinical studies, particularly to studies of structure–function relations of the complex neural network of the human. Experiments with synthetic and in vivo human DTI data have demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed technique in tracking complex fiber structures, thus proving its significant advantages over traditionally used streamline fiber tractography.

Voxel- and atlas-based analysis of diffusion tensor imaging may reveal focal axonal injuries in mild traumatic brain injury — comparison with diffuse axonal injury - Corrected Proof

Kazumi Kasahara, Keiji Hashimoto, Masahiro Abo, Atsushi Senoo — 2012-01-30

Abstract: Background: The diagnosis and management of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI) continue to be subjects of debate, with varying opinions regarding the extent to which tissue-based impairments versus the impacts of other stressors cause ongoing disability. Detecting areas of the brain with abnormalities that can explain symptoms and behavior in patients with MTBI is important in order to confirm the diagnosis of MTBI.Methods: In this study, we calculated diffusion maps from results of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) performed in an apparently healthy control group. We then compared these maps with those of patients with MTBI (MTBI group) or diffuse axonal injury (DAI group). All diffusion maps were normalized to the International Consortium for Brain Mapping atlas for atlas-based analysis and were segmented and normalized by the Diffeomorphic Anatomical Registration Through Exponentiated Lie tool in SPM8 to reduce misregistration.Results: All diffusion measures in the DAI group were lower than in the control group. There were significant differences in the body and splenium of the corpus callosum, fornix and right cerebral peduncle in the DAI group compared with the control group (P<.001). The MTBI group had higher axial diffusivity than the control group in the right corticospinal tract, left medial lemniscus, left inferior cerebellar peduncle, bilateral anterior limb of the internal capsule, right anterior corona radiata, bilateral cingulum (cingulate gyrus) and left superior frontooccipital fasciculus (P<.05).Conclusions: Voxel- and atlas-based analysis of DTI might suggest that patients with MTBI have focal axonal injury and that the pathophysiology is significantly different from that of DAI. These findings will help in the diagnosis of patients with MTBI.

Assessment of MRI issues for the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis - Corrected Proof

2012-01-20

Abstract: Objective: The objective was to evaluate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) issues (magnetic field interactions, heating, artifacts and functional alterations) at 1.5 T and 3 T for the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis (Second Sight Medical Products, Sylmar, CA, USA).Materials and Methods: Standardized protocols were used to assess magnetic field interactions (translational attraction and torque; 3 T, worst case), MRI-related heating (1.5 and 3 T), artifacts (3 T; worst case) and functional changes (1.5 and 3 T) associated with MRI.Results: The magnetic field interactions were acceptable. MRI-related heating, which was studied at a relatively high, MR system-reported whole body averaged specific absorption rates, will not pose a hazard to the patient under the conditions used for testing. While artifacts were “moderate” in relation to the dimensions of the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis, optimization of MRI parameters can reduce the size of the artifacts. Exposures to MRI conditions at 1.5 and 3 T did not damage or alter the functional aspects of the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis.Conclusions: In consideration of the test results, a patient with the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis may undergo MRI at 1.5 T or 3 T when specific guidelines and MRI conditions are followed, including those advised by the manufacturer.

Depression recognition using resting-state and event-related fMRI signals - Corrected Proof

Qing Lu, Gang Liu, Jing Zhao, Guoping Luo, Zhijian Yao — 2012-01-20

Abstract: Purpose: This paper aimed to develop a method for depression detection using blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) response estimated from event-related signals and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) signals together.Materials and Methods: Thirteen patients with unipolar depression and matched healthy subjects were recruited. Resting state data of each subject were collected. Thereafter, event-related paradigm was undertaken using sad facial stimuli. The resting-state fMRI signal was deemed as the baseline of each subject's activity. Coefficient marks were designed to sort and select temporal independent components of event-related signals. Thereafter, stimulus-evoked BOLD response components inside event-related signal were extracted and taken as features to discriminate depressive patients from healthy controls.Results: Accuracy rate for depression recognition was 77.27% with P value of .017 for whole-brain analysis and 81.82% with P value of .009 for region-of-interest analysis. The effectiveness and the superiority of the proposed method for disease recognition were demonstrated via the performance comparison with three other typical methods.Conclusions: The proposed model was effective in depression recognition.

The diagnostic accuracy of MRI for the detection of partial- and full-thickness rotator cuff tears in adults - Corrected Proof

Toby O. Smith, Helena Daniell, Jo-Anne Geere, Andoni P. Toms, Caroline B. Hing — 2012-01-19

Abstract: This study assessed the diagnostic test accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in the detection of partial- and full-thickness rotator cuff tears in the adult population. A systematic review was conducted of the following electronic databases: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Medline, Embase, CINAHL, AMED, ISI Web of Science, Current Controlled Trials, National Technical Information Service, the National Institute for Health Research Portfolio, the UK National Research Register Archive and WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform database and reference lists of articles. All studies assessing the sensitivity and/or specificity of MRI for adult patients with suspected rotator cuff tear where surgical procedures were the reference standard were included in the study. A meta-analysis was performed to calculate pooled sensitivity, specificity, likelihood and diagnostic odds ratio values, and summary receiver operating characteristic plots were constructed. Forty-four studies were included. These included 2751 shoulders in 2710 patients. For partial-thickness rotator cuff tears, the pooled sensitivity and specificity values were 0.80 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.79–0.84] and 0.95 (95% CI: 0.94–0.97), respectively. For full-thickness tears, the sensitivity and specificity values were 0.91 (95% CI: 0.86–0.94) and 0.97 (95% CI: 0.96–0.98), respectively. While there was no substantial difference in diagnostic test accuracy between MRIs reviewed by general radiologists and those reviewed by musculoskeletal radiologists, higher-field-strength (3.0 T) MRI systems provided the greatest diagnostic test accuracy.

Lateral diffusion in equimolar mixtures of natural sphingomyelins with dioleoylphosphatidylcholine - Corrected Proof

Andrey Filippov, Bulat Munavirov, Gerhard Gröbner, Maya Rudakova — 2012-01-19

Abstract: Cellular membranes of mammals are composed of a complex assembly of diverse phospholipids. Sphingomyelin (SM) and phosphatidylcholine (PC) are important lipids of eukaryotic cellular membranes and neuronal tissues, and presumably participate in the formation of membrane domains, known as “rafts,” through intermolecular interaction and lateral microphase decomposition. In these two-dimensional membrane systems, lateral diffusion of lipids is an essential dynamic factor, which might even be indicative of lipid phase separation process. Here, we used pulsed field gradient nuclear magnetic resonance to study lateral diffusion of lipid components in macroscopically oriented bilayers composed of equimolar mixtures of natural SMs of egg yolk, bovine brain, bovine milk and dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) with dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DOPC). In addition, differential scanning calorimetry was used as a complementary technique to characterize the phase state of the lipid bilayers. In fully liquid bilayers, the lateral diffusion coefficients in both DOPC/DPPC and DOPC/SM systems exhibit mean values of the pure bilayers. For DOPC/SM bilayer system, this behavior can be explained by a model where most SM molecules form short-lived lateral domains with preferential SM–SM interactions occurring within them. However, for bilayers in the presence of their low-temperature gel phase, lateral diffusion becomes complicated and cannot simply be understood solely by a simple change in the liquid phase decomposition.

Modeling shear modulus distribution in magnetic resonance elastography with piecewise constant level sets - Corrected Proof

2012-01-16

Abstract: Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is designed for imaging the mechanical properties of soft tissues. However, the interpretation of shear modulus distribution is often confusing and cumbersome. For reliable evaluation, a common practice is to specify the regions of interest and consider regional elasticity. Such an experience-dependent protocol is susceptible to intrapersonal and interpersonal variability. In this study we propose to remodel shear modulus distribution with piecewise constant level sets by referring to the corresponding magnitude image. Optimal segmentation and registration are achieved by a new hybrid level set model comprised of alternating global and local region competitions. Experimental results on the simulated MRE data sets show that the mean error of elasticity reconstruction is 11.33% for local frequency estimation and 18.87% for algebraic inversion of differential equation. Piecewise constant level set modeling is effective to improve the quality of shear modulus distribution, and facilitates MRE analysis and interpretation.

A preliminary study of blood-oxygen-level-dependent MRI in patients with chronic kidney disease - Corrected Proof

Pei Xin-Long, Xie Jing-Xia, Liu Jian-Yu, Wang Song, Tian Xin-Kui — 2012-01-16

Abstract: Background: Blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can provide regional measurements of oxygen content using deoxyhemoglobin paramagnetic characteristics. The apparent relaxation rate or R2*(=1/T2*) can be determined from the slope of log (intensity) versus echo time and is directly proportional to the tissue content of deoxyhemoglobin. Thus, as the level of deoxyhemoglobin increases, T2* will decrease, leading to an increase in R2*. Chronic kidney disease (CKD) can affect oxygenation levels in renal parenchyma, which influences the clinical course of the disease. The goal of this study was to detect and assess renal oxygenation levels in CKD using BOLD MRI.Methods: Fifteen healthy subjects and 11 patients with CKD underwent a renal scan using multigradient-recalled-echo sequence with eight echoes. R2* (1/s) of the renal cortex and medulla was measured on BOLD images. Of the 11 patients, nine had biopsy-proven chronic glomerulonephritis, and two had a similar diagnosis based on clinical symptoms and investigations.Results: Mean medullary R2* (MR2*) and cortex R2* (CR2*) levels were significantly higher in patients (22 kidneys, MR2*=24.79±4.84 s−1, CR2*=18.97±2.72 s−1) than in controls (30 kidneys, MR2*=19.98±1.19 s−1, CR2*=16.03±1.23 s−1) (P<.01), and MR2* was increased more than CR2*. Medullary to cortical R2* ratios (MCR2*) of patients were significantly increased when compared with those of controls (P<.01). In the patient group, estimated glomerular filtration rate levels were greater than or equal to 60 ml/min/1.73 m2 in six patients (12 kidneys), whose MR2* and CR2* were also significantly higher than those of controls (P<.01). Serum creatinine levels were normal in seven patients (14 kidneys), whose MR2*, CR2* and MCR2* were also higher than those of controls (P<.01).Conclusions: BOLD MRI can be used to evaluate changes in renal oxygenation in CKD, suggesting that it has the potential to be an excellent noninvasive tool for the evaluation of renal function.

Depth and orientational dependencies of MRI T2 and T1ρ sensitivities towards trypsin degradation and Gd-DTPA2− presence in articular cartilage at microscopic resolution - Corrected Proof

Nian Wang, Yang Xia — 2012-01-16

Abstract: Depth and orientational dependencies of microscopic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) T2 and T1ρ sensitivities were studied in native and trypsin-degraded articular cartilage before and after being soaked in 1 mM Gd-DTPA2− solution. When the cartilage surface was perpendicular to B0, a typical laminar appearance was visible in T2-weighted images but not in T1ρ-weighted images, especially when the spin-lock field was high (2 kHz). At the magic angle (55°) orientation, neither T2- nor T1ρ-weighted image had a laminar appearance. Trypsin degradation caused a depth- and orientational-dependent T2 increase (4%–64%) and a more uniform T1ρ increase at a sufficiently high spin-lock field (55%–81%). The presence of the Gd ions caused both T2 and T1ρ to decrease significantly in the degraded tissue (6%–38% and 44%–49%, respectively) but less notably in the native tissue (5%–10% and 16%–28%, respectively). A quantity Sensitivity was introduced that combined both the percentage change and the absolute change in the relaxation analysis. An MRI experimental protocol based on two T1ρ measurements (without and with the presence of the Gd ions) was proposed to be a new imaging marker for cartilage degradation.

Simultaneous 3D localization of multiple MR-visible markers in fully reconstructed MR images: proof-of-concept for subsecond position tracking - Corrected Proof

2012-01-16

Abstract: Purpose: To determine whether a greatly reduced spatial resolution of fully reconstructed projection MR images can be used for the simultaneous 3D localization of multiple MR-visible markers and to assess the feasibility of a subsecond position tracking for clinical purposes.Materials and Methods: Miniature, inductively coupled RF coils were imaged in three orthogonal planes with a balanced steady-state free precession (SSFP) sequence and automatically localized using a two-dimensional template fitting and a subsequent three-dimensional (3D) matching of the coordinates. Precision, accuracy, speed and robustness of 3D localization were assessed for decreasing in-plane resolutions (0.6–4.7 mm). The feasibility of marker tracking was evaluated at the lowest resolution by following a robotically driven needle on a complex 3D trajectory.Results: Average 3D precision and accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of localization ranged between 0.1 and 0.4 mm, 0.5 and 1.0 mm, 100% and 95%, and 100% and 96%, respectively. At the lowest resolution, imaging and localization took ≈350 ms and provided an accuracy of ≈1.0 mm. In the tracking experiment, the needle was clearly depicted on the oblique scan planes defined by the markers.Conclusion: Image-based marker localization at a greatly reduced spatial resolution is considered a feasible approach to monitor reference points or rigid instruments at subsecond update rates.

The effect of gradient sampling schemes on diffusion metrics derived from probabilistic analysis and tract-based spatial statistics - Corrected Proof

Tuva Hope, Lars Tjelta Westlye, Atle Bjørnerud — 2012-01-16

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose was to systematically evaluate the effect of diffusion gradient encoding scheme on estimated fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD) and the voxel-wise probability of identifying crossing fibers in the brain.Materials and Methods: Eight healthy volunteers (mean age 26.5±1.3 years, 5 males, 3 females) were imaged using a Spin-Echo Echo-Planar-Imaging sequence acquired with two signal averages [number of signals averaged (NSA)], 127 diffusion directions, and b-values of 750 s/mm2 and 1500 s/mm2. The number of diffusion gradient directions (Nd) was reduced from the original value whilst maintaining a homogeneous gradient distribution enabling direct comparison of subsampled data sets with Nd=15, 28, 43, 84, 112 and 127. FA and MD maps were generated and analyzed using tract-based spatial statistics. Effect of Nd on estimated FA and MD was tested with voxel-wise statistics in 13 regions of interest. The number of voxels supporting two fiber populations (NV2) at different Nd values was estimated using Bayesian estimation of diffusion parameters.Results: Low FA values decreased significantly with increasing Nd and with increasing NSA. MD was only marginally sensitive to Nd and NSA. NV2 increased significantly with Nd but not with NSA. Thus, we conclude that accurate estimation of standard diffusion metrics FA and MD is mainly dependent on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), whereas the ability to differentiate multiple fiber populations requires a high diffusion sampling density.

Classification of breast mass lesions using model-based analysis of the characteristic kinetic curve derived from fuzzy c-means clustering - Corrected Proof

2012-01-16

Abstract: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic efficacy of the representative characteristic kinetic curve of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) extracted by fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering for the discrimination of benign and malignant breast tumors using a novel computer-aided diagnosis (CAD) system. About the research data set, DCE-MRIs of 132 solid breast masses with definite histopathologic diagnosis (63 benign and 69 malignant) were used in this study. At first, the tumor region was automatically segmented using the region growing method based on the integrated color map formed by the combination of kinetic and area under curve color map. Then, the FCM clustering was used to identify the time–signal curve with the larger initial enhancement inside the segmented region as the representative kinetic curve, and then the parameters of the Tofts pharmacokinetic model for the representative kinetic curve were compared with conventional curve analysis (maximal enhancement, time to peak, uptake rate and washout rate) for each mass. The results were analyzed with a receiver operating characteristic curve and Student's t test to evaluate the classification performance. Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of the combined model-based parameters of the extracted kinetic curve from FCM clustering were 86.36% (114/132), 85.51% (59/69), 87.30% (55/63), 88.06% (59/67) and 84.62% (55/65), better than those from a conventional curve analysis. The AZ value was 0.9154 for Tofts model-based parametric features, better than that for conventional curve analysis (0.8673), for discriminating malignant and benign lesions. In conclusion, model-based analysis of the characteristic kinetic curve of breast mass derived from FCM clustering provides effective lesion classification. This approach has potential in the development of a CAD system for DCE breast MRI.

Variations in T2* and fat content of murine brown and white adipose tissues by chemical-shift MRI - Corrected Proof

Houchun H. Hu, Catherine D.G. Hines, Daniel L. Smith, Scott B. Reeder — 2012-01-16

Abstract: Purpose: The purpose was to compare T2* relaxation times and proton density fat-fraction (PDFF) values between brown (BAT) and white (WAT) adipose tissue in lean and ob/ob mice.Materials and Methods: A group of lean male mice (n=6) and two groups of ob/ob male mice placed on similar 4-week (n=6) and 8-week (n=8) ad libitum diets were utilized. The animals were imaged at 3 T using a T2*-corrected chemical-shift-based water–fat magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method that provides simultaneous estimation of T2* and PDFF on a voxel-wise basis. Regions of interest were drawn within the interscapular BAT and gonadal WAT depots on co-registered T2* and PDFF maps. Measurements were assessed using analysis of variance, Bonferroni-adjusted t test for multigroup comparisons and the Tukey post hoc test.Results: Significant differences (P<.01) in BAT T2* and PDFF were observed between the lean and ob/ob groups. The ob/ob animals exhibited longer BAT T2* and greater PDFF than lean animals. However, only BAT PDFF was significantly different (P<.01) between the two ob/ob groups. When comparing BAT to WAT within each group, T2* and PDFF values were consistently lower in BAT than WAT (P<.01). The difference was most prominent in the lean animals. In both ob/ob groups, BAT exhibited very WAT-like appearances and properties on the MRI images.Conclusion: T2* and PDFF are lower in BAT than WAT. This is likely due to variations in tissue composition. The values were consistently lower in lean mice than in ob/ob mice, suggestive of the former's greater demand for BAT thermogenesis and reflective of leptin hormone deficiencies and diminished BAT metabolic activity in the latter.

Temperature mapping in bread dough using SE and GE two-point MRI methods: experimental and theoretical estimation of uncertainty - Corrected Proof

Tiphaine Lucas, Maja Musse, Mélanie Bornert, Armel Davenel, Stéphane Quellec — 2012-01-09

Abstract: Two-dimensional (2D)-SE, 2D-GE and tri-dimensional (3D)-GE two-point T1-weighted MRI methods were evaluated in this study in order to maximize the accuracy of temperature mapping of bread dough during thermal processing. Uncertainties were propagated throughout each protocol of measurement, and comparisons demonstrated that all the methods with comparable acquisition times minimized the temperature uncertainty to similar extent. The experimental uncertainties obtained with low-field MRI were also compared to the theoretical estimations. Some discrepancies were reported between experimental and theoretical values of uncertainties of temperature; however, experimental and theoretical trends with varying parameters agreed to a large extent for both SE and GE methods. The 2D-SE method was chosen for further applications on prefermented dough because of its lower sensitivity to susceptibility differences in porous media. It was applied for temperature mapping in prefermented dough during chilling prior to freezing and compared locally to optical fiber measurements.

Partial least squares for discrimination in fMRI data - Corrected Proof

Anders H. Andersen, William S. Rayens, Yushu Liu, Charles D. Smith — 2012-01-09

Abstract: Multivariate methods for discrimination were used in the comparison of brain activation patterns between groups of cognitively normal women who are at either high or low Alzheimer's disease risk based on family history and apolipoprotein-E4 status. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was preceded by dimension reduction using principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares (PLS) or a new oriented partial least squares (OrPLS) method. The aim was to identify a spatial pattern of functionally connected brain regions that was differentially expressed by the risk groups and yielded optimal classification accuracy. Multivariate dimension reduction is required prior to LDA when the data contain more feature variables than there are observations on individual subjects. Whereas PCA has been commonly used to identify covariance patterns in neuroimaging data, this approach only identifies gross variability and is not capable of distinguishing among-groups from within-groups variability. PLS and OrPLS provide a more focused dimension reduction by incorporating information on class structure and therefore lead to more parsimonious models for discrimination. Performance was evaluated in terms of the cross-validated misclassification rates. The results support the potential of using functional magnetic resonance imaging as an imaging biomarker or diagnostic tool to discriminate individuals with disease or high risk.

A simple way to acquire T1-weighted MR images of rat liver with respiratory triggering - Corrected Proof

2012-01-09

Abstract: To acquire high-resolution T1-weighted images of the liver in rats, for which breath-holding cannot be ensured, respiratory triggering is essential. At the respiratory rate of 30–60 times/min in rats, however, T1-weighted images cannot be obtained with simple triggering. As a simple solution to this, we applied multiple repeated acquisitions with one trigger signal. With this technique, sufficient T1 contrast could be easily achieved in rat liver enhanced by gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid infusion.

Hepatic parenchymal enhancement at Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging: correlation with morphological grading of severity in cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis - Corrected Proof

2012-01-09

Abstract: The aim was to clarify whether enhancement effects of the liver parenchyma in the hepatobiliary phase (HP) of gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced MR imaging were correlated with the morphological grading of the severity in cirrhosis. A total of 62 patients with chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis underwent Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging. Relative enhancement (RE) of liver parenchyma was calculated from signal intensity (SI) measurements obtained at precontrast images (SIpre) and 20-min postcontrast HP images (SIpost) as: (SIpost−SIpre)/SIpre. Morphological MR grades of severity in cirrhosis were divided into four groups. Then, RE of liver parenchyma and morphologic MR grading were correlated. Regarding the morphologic severity of cirrhosis, the numbers of patients with MR grade 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 14 (23%), 7 (11%), 28 (45%) and 13 (21%), respectively. The mean REs of liver parenchyma in each group of MR morphologic grade 1, 2, 3 and 4 were 0.71±0.21, 0.62±0.16, 0.70±0.22 and 0.77±0.18, respectively. There was no significant correlation between the MR grading of morphologic severity and the RE of liver parenchyma at 20-min HP. Hepatic parenchymal enhancement in the HP of Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MR imaging did not necessarily decrease according to the severity of morphologic changes in cirrhosis. This fact may suggest that the hepatic uptake of Gd-EOB-DTPA depends on the preserved hepatocytes function rather than the severity of morphologic changes in cirrhosis.

Investigating tumor perfusion and metabolism using multiple hyperpolarized 13C compounds: HP001, pyruvate and urea - Corrected Proof

2011-12-14

Abstract: The metabolically inactive hyperpolarized agents HP001 (bis-1,1-(hydroxymethyl)-[1-13C]cyclopropane-d8) and urea enable a new type of perfusion magnetic resonance imaging based on a direct signal source that is background-free. The addition of perfusion information to metabolic information obtained by spectroscopic imaging of hyperpolarized [1-13C]pyruvate would be of great value in exploring the relationship between perfusion and metabolism in cancer. In preclinical normal murine and cancer model studies, we performed both dynamic multislice imaging of the specialized hyperpolarized perfusion compound HP001 (T1=95 s ex vivo, 32 s in vivo at 3 T) using a pulse sequence with balanced steady-state free precession and ramped flip angle over time for efficient utilization of the hyperpolarized magnetization and three-dimensional echo-planar spectroscopic imaging of urea copolarized with [1-13C]pyruvate, with compressed sensing for resolution enhancement. For the dynamic data, peak signal maps and blood flow maps derived from perfusion modeling were generated. The spatial heterogeneity of perfusion was increased 2.9-fold in tumor tissues (P=.05), and slower washout was observed in the dynamic data. The results of separate dynamic HP001 imaging and copolarized pyruvate/urea imaging were compared. A strong and significant correlation (R=0.73, P=.02) detected between the urea and HP001 data confirmed the value of copolarizing urea with pyruvate for simultaneous assessment of perfusion and metabolism.

Mapping of muscle deformation during heating: in situ dynamic MRI and nonlinear registration - Corrected Proof

2011-12-02

Abstract: We present developments in dynamic magnetic resonance imaging that allow internal structural muscle markers to be followed during heating. This monitoring is based on quantitative characterization of the experimental conditions and their temperature time course. A nonlinear image registration technique was optimized and applied to consecutively acquired images to measure the deformation fields in the muscle. A model coupling local deformation and temperature was obtained, which for the first time takes into account the variations of deformation and temperature in the sample. This modeling opens the way to a better understanding of the mechanisms responsible for mass loss and degradation of the textural properties of muscle during heating.