Magnetic resonance imaging
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To systematically investigate the scan-rescan, intra-observer, and inter-observer reproducibility of an improved DANTE-SPACE sequence for the simultaneous assessment of intra- and extracranial arterial vessel wall morphology. ⋯ The improved T1-weighted DANTE-SPACE sequence is a reproducible method for the simultaneous assessment of intra- and extracranial vessel wall using a single MR scan. This method could potentially be used for assessing responses to therapy and for monitoring disease progression.
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The blood-brain barrier (BBB) and cerebral tissue microstructure can be impaired following traumatic brain injury (TBI). However, the spatiotemporal changes of BBB leakage and tissue microstructure are not completely understood. In this study, we evaluated the spatiotemporal changes of BBB leakage and tissue microstructure using dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) and diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) in controlled cortical impact (CCI) rats. ⋯ The BBB disruption reflected by Ktrans correlated well with MK value in ipsilateral cortex. In addition, MK could detect the delayed microstructural changes in thalamus. DCE-MRI and DKI could be used to assess the BBB breakdown and cerebral microstructural changes of TBI.
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Quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) MRI is a tool that can characterize changes in susceptibility, an intrinsic property which is associated with compositional changes in the tissue. Current QSM estimation of cortical bone is challenging because conventional clinical MRI cannot acquire signal in cortical bone. This study aimed to implement Cones 3D ultrashort echo time MRI (UTE-MRI) for ex vivo QSM measurements in human tibial cortical bone, investigating the correlations of QSM with volumetric intracortical bone mineral density (BMD). ⋯ These results suggest that the Cones 3D UTE-MRI QSM technique can potentially serve as a novel and accurate tool to assess intracortical bone mineral density whilst avoiding ionizing radiation.
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To investigate the potential of diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) and conventional diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the evaluation of additional suspicious lesions at preoperative breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in patients with breast cancer. ⋯ DKI may aid in the differentiation of additional suspicious lesions at preoperative breast MRI. Both ADC and DKI may have lower potential in differentiating DCIS from benign lesions.
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To evaluate the utility of neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) for longitudinally assessing neonatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) encephalopathy severity with 7.0 T magnetic resonance imaging. ⋯ Here, ODI, a NODDI metric, identified early differences between mild and severe HI injuries. Our findings support the potential utility of NODDI for determining neonatal HI encephalopathy severity in rats.