Magnetic resonance imaging
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Dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE)-MRI combined with pharmacokinetic (PK) modeling of a tumor provides information about its perfusion and vascular permeability. Most PK models require the time course of contrast agent concentration in blood plasma as an input, which cannot be measured directly at the tissue of interest, and is approximated with an arterial input function (AIF). Variability in methods used in estimating the AIF and inter-observer variability in region of interest selection are major sources of discrepancy between different studies. ⋯ The AC-ICA and AIF-based analyses provided similar (KN(trans)) values in normal PZ tissue of prostate across patients. Normalizing the input function before PK analysis significantly improved the reproducibility of the PK parameters and increased the separation between normal and tumor tissues. Using AC-ICA allows a local VIF to be estimated and the resulting PK parameters are similar to those obtained using a more conventional AIF; this may be valuable in studies where an artery is not available in the field of view.
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To evaluate the effect of b-value distribution on the repeatability and Gleason score (GS) prediction of prostate cancer (PCa). ⋯ B-value distribution influences mainly the repeatability of DWI-derived parameters rather than the diagnostic performance.
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Comparative Study
Dixon-based fat-free MR-angiography compared to first pass and steady-state high-resolution MR-angiography using a blood pool contrast agent.
Compared to standard arterial-only first-pass MR-angiography (FPMRA), imaging during the equilibrium phase of a blood pool contrast agent (steady state) has been shown to provide higher image quality and better stenosis grading. Homogenous Dixon fat-suppression promises to increase contrast by suppression of fat adjacent to vessels. This study was performed to compare diagnostic image quality and vessel-to-background contrasts in equilibrium phase Dixon-based fat-free MRA (DFSMRA) of run-off vessels to FPMRA imaging and equilibrium phase T1-weighted non-fat-suppressed ultra-high resolution MRA (SSMRA). ⋯ Vessel to fat contrast is strongly increased in DFSMRA compared to T1-weighted ultra-high resolution non-fat suppressed SSMRA, whereas vessel to muscle contrast is decreased in DFSMRA. Given the current technical limitations of DFSMRA, possible benefits are outweighed by advantages of first-pass imaging regarding arterial selectivity as well as advantages of SSMRA with respect to spatial resolution.
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High resolution three dimensional intracranial arterial wall imaging at 3 T using T1 weighted SPACE.
To study the effect of imaging parameters on the contrast of T1 weighted SPACE (Sampling Perfection with Application optimized Contrast using different angle Evolutions, a 3D TSE variant) at 3 T for high resolution imaging of intracranial plaques before contrast and with post-gadolinium induced enhancement, and evaluate its relevance to patients with intracranial atherosclerosis. ⋯ T1 weighted SPACE provides good T1 contrast between intracranial arterial wall and cerebrospinal fluid with high resolution and good coverage within a clinically acceptable scan time. It can depict plaques pre- and post-contrast along the vessels surrounded by cerebrospinal fluid in the intracranial arterial system, and would be a useful tool in the clinical assessment of intracranial arterial diseases.
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To investigate the longitudinal brain regional homogeneity (ReHo) changes in nonhuman primate after spinal cord injury (SCI) by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). ⋯ SCI can change the regional synchronism of brain activity in sensorimotor system and the default mode network. These findings may help us to understand the potential pathophysiological changes in the central nervous system after SCI.