Effects of air susceptibility on proton resonance frequency MR thermometry

Object  

The temperature dependence of the proton resonance frequency (PRF) is often used in MR thermometry. However, this method is prone to even very small changes in local magnetic field strength. Here, we report on the effects of susceptibility changes of surrounding air on the magnetic field inside an object and their inferred effect on the measured MR temperature.     

Fast MR thermometry using an echo-shifted sequence with simultaneous multi-slice imaging

Purpose

Real-time monitoring is important for the safety and effectiveness of high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) therapy. Magnetic resonance imaging is the preferred imaging modality for HIFU monitoring, with its unique capability of temperature imaging. For real-time temperature imaging, higher temporal resolution and larger spatial coverage are needed. In this study, a sequence based on the echo-shifted RF-spoiled gradient echo (GRE) with simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) imaging was designed for fast temperature imaging.

Methods

A phantom experiment was conducted to evaluate the accuracy of the echo-shifted sequence using a fluorescent fiber thermometer as reference. The temperature uncertainty of the echo-shifted sequence was compared with the traditional GRE sequence at room temperature through the ex vivo porcine muscle. Finally, the ex vivo porcine liver tissue experiment using HIFU heating was performed to demonstrate that the spatial coverage was increased without decreasing temporal resolution.

Results

The echo-shifted sequence had a better temperature uncertainty performance compared with the traditional GRE sequence with the same temporal resolution. The ex vivo heating experiment confirmed that by combining the SMS technique and echo-shifted sequence, the spatial coverage was increased without decreasing the temporal resolution while maintaining high temperature measurement precision.

Conclusion

The proposed technique was validated as an effective real-time method for monitoring HIFU therapy.

     

High-resolution impedance mapping using electrically activated quantitative phase imaging

Retrieving electrical impedance maps at the nanoscale rapidly via nondestructive inspection with a high signal-to-noise ratio is an unmet need,likely to impact various applications from biomedicine to energy conversion.In this study,we develop a multimodal functional imaging instrument that is characterized by the dual capability of impedance mapping and phase quantitation,high spatial resolution,and low temporal noise.To achieve this,we advance a quantitative phase imaging system,referred to as epi-magnified image spatial spectrum microscopy combined with electrical actuation,to provide complementary maps of the optical path and electrical impedance.We demonstrate our system with high-resolution maps of optical path differences and electrical impedance variations that can distinguish nanosized,semi-transparent,structured coatings involving two materials with relatively similar electrical properties.We map heterogeneous interfaces corresponding to an indium tin oxide layer exposed by holes with diameters as small as~550 nm in a titanium(dioxide)over-layer deposited on a glass support.We show that electrical modulation during the phase imaging of a macro-electrode is decisive for retrieving electrical impedance distributions with submicron spatial resolution-and beyond the limitations of electrode-based technologies(surface or scanning technologies).The findings,which are substantiated by a theoretical model that fits the experimental data very well enable achieving electro-optical maps with high spatial and temporal resolutions.The virtues and limitations of the novel optoelectrochemical method that provides grounds for a wider range of electrically modulated optical methods for measuring the electric field locally are critically discussed.     

Real-time imaging and triggering of 3D contrast-enhanced MR angiograms using MR fluoroscopy

Although a variety of timing techniques and data acquisition strategies have been, used for three-dimensional contrast-enhanced MR angiography, many are still limited by inadequate overall reliability, limited spatial resolution, or complexity. A technique is presented in this work in which contrast arrival is detected in the targeted vasculature in real time using MR fluoroscopy. Upon detection the operator triggers a 3D MR angiographic acquisition which uses an elliptical centric view order. It is shown that the view order intrinsically provides a high degree of venous suppression which in turn allows acquisition times of 30 s or longer. permitting high spatial resolution. The reliability of fluoroscopic triggering in bolus detection is shown to be over 90%. The technique provides high quality contrast-enhanced MR angiograms for many vascular regions.     

Detecting secondary arc extinction time by analyzing low frequency components of faulted phase voltage or sound phase current waveforms

This paper suggests a new adaptive single-pole auto-reclosing technique based on tracking a single harmonic distortion index (HDI) that represents the behavior of the low frequency components of the faulted phase voltage or sound phase current waveforms and a decision-making index that is defined based on properties of the tracked HDI. The advantage of this technique is that the threshold values, set for indices, can be chosen almost independent of pre-fault loading conditions and line parameters.     

基于DDS和外差混频的频率合成器的设计

在过去20年里,为了适应矢量调制通信和先进雷达系统的迅速发展,射频和微波信号发生器的性能和复杂度都有所增长.对于这些应用,最关键的性能参数之一就是相位噪声.设计了一种利用外差混频技术的DDS驱动锁相环的频率合成器,频率输出范围3～6 GHz.DDS作为锁相频率合成器的参考信号发生器,这样频率合成器就有了极快的切换时间和很窄的频带间隔.通过提高鉴相频率和外差混频,整个频率合成器因为分频比的大幅下降,因此拥有极好的相位噪声,在频率3.85 GHz时,相噪达到-105 dBc/Hz@10 kHz.     

数字移相法测量无功功率的频率误差补偿

用定频采样法及数字移相技术测量无功功率的重大障碍是频率影响误差,该短文提出一种校正该项误差的新方法,对其补偿效果进行了分析,并讨论了相关设计方法。     

1 kHz步进低噪声YIG调谐微波频率综合器

低噪声微波频率综合器在现代电子系统和高性能测试系统中起着非常重要的作用,其实现方式通常以压控振荡器(VCO)和YIG调谐振荡器锁相频率合成为主。基于4~9 GHz YIG调谐振荡器,通过VCO合成小步进可变参考,使锁相环路在不降低鉴相频率的前提下,设计了完成高分辨率、低杂散的宽带低噪声YIG频率综合器。技术验证样品测试结果表明,在4~9 GHz工作带宽内频率步进为1 k Hz,相位噪声优于-95d Bc@10 k Hz,-115 d Bc@100 k Hz,其软硬件设计支持连续扫频和合成扫频功能,工作性能稳定可靠,可满足工程中本振和信号源应用需求。     

三维有限元法分析频率对接地电阻的影响

提出了用涡流场的A-V有限元分析方法计算接地系统接地电阻的方法,分析了入地电流频率的变化对接地电阻的影响。计算结果表明,频率对接地体自身电阻的影响较大,但对散流电阻的影响很小。     

WBZ-1D型低频率保护装置的设计研究

WBZ-1D型微机式低频率保护装置是根据中、小型汽轮发电机组低频率保护的要求而设计研制的。在研究设计过程中,硬件电路采用了DSP构成硬件系统,软件采用C＋＋语言编程。软、硬件设计过程中采用了～系列可靠性措施,因此保护装置具有较高的性能指标和可靠性。     

Electronically controlled oscillator with linear frequency adjusting for four‐phase or differential quadrature output signal generation

This paper introduces novel four‐phase oscillator employing two Dual‐Output Controlled Gain Current Follower Buffered Amplifiers (DO‐CG‐CFBAs), single Current Amplifier, three resistors, and two grounded capacitors suitable for differential quadrature signal production (floating outputs). To control the frequency of oscillation (FO) and condition of oscillation (CO), only the current gain adjustment of active elements is used. The circuit was designed by well‐known state variable approach. The oscillator employs three active elements for linear control of FO and to adjust CO and provides low‐impedance voltage outputs. Furthermore, two straightforward ways of automatic amplitude gain control were used and compared. Active elements with very good performance are implemented to fulfill required features. Suitable CMOS implementation of introduced DO‐CG‐CFBA was shown. Important characteristics of the designed oscillator were verified experimentally and by PSpice simulations to confirm theoretical and expected presumptions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Correction to: 3D SASHA myocardial T1 mapping with high accuracy and improved precision

Purpose

To improve the precision of a free-breathing 3D saturation-recovery-based myocardial T1 mapping sequence using a post-processing 3D denoising technique.

Methods

A T1 phantom and 15 healthy subjects were scanned on a 1.5 T MRI scanner using 3D saturation-recovery single-shot acquisition (SASHA) for myocardial T1 mapping. A 3D denoising technique was applied to the native T1-weighted images before pixel-wise T1 fitting. The denoising technique imposes edge-preserving regularity and exploits the co-occurrence of 3D spatial gradients in the native T1-weighted images by incorporating a multi-contrast Beltrami regularization. Additionally, 2D modified Look-Locker inversion recovery (MOLLI) acquisitions were performed for comparison purposes. Accuracy and precision were measured in the myocardial septum of 2D MOLLI and 3D SASHA T1 maps and then compared. Furthermore, the accuracy and precision of the proposed approach were evaluated in a standardized phantom in comparison to an inversion-recovery spin-echo sequence (IRSE).

Results

For the phantom study, Bland–Altman plots showed good agreement in terms of accuracy between IRSE and 3D SASHA, both on non-denoised and denoised T1 maps (mean difference −1.4 ± 18.9 ms and −4.4 ± 21.2 ms, respectively), while 2D MOLLI generally underestimated the T1 values (69.4 ± 48.4 ms). For the in vivo study, there was a statistical difference between the precision measured on 2D MOLLI and on non-denoised 3D SASHA T1 maps (P = 0.005), while there was no statistical difference after denoising (P = 0.95).

Conclusion

The precision of 3D SASHA myocardial T1 mapping was substantially improved using a 3D Beltrami regularization based denoising technique and was similar to that of 2D MOLLI T1 mapping, while preserving the higher accuracy and whole-heart coverage of 3D SASHA.

     

Accuracy of 3D MR microscopy for trabecular bone assessment: a comparative study on calcaneus samples using 3D synchrotron radiation microtomography

Magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is attractive for a noninvasive and radiation-free assessment of in vivo trabecular bone architecture. However the quantitative evaluation of architectural parameters could be biased by the limited sensitivity of MR. The aim of this study was to determine the accuracy of trabecular bone architectural parameters obtained from 3D high-resolution MR images, by comparison to reference images obtained by high-resolution X-ray microtomography using synchrotron radiation, from 29 samples of human calcaneus. MR images were obtained with a 66 m×66 m×66 m voxel size, using a 8.5 T MR microscope. Microtomography images were acquired with a 10 m×10 m×10 m voxel size, from the same samples. 3D architectural parameters characterizing the morphometry, topology, anisotropy, and orientation were computed from both modalities and carefully compared. To avoid errors, an identical region of interest was selected in the two corresponding images, and the same algorithms were run at identical spatial resolution. Our results establish that network connectivity, orientation and anisotropy are reliable from the MR data. The bone volume fraction, and morphometric parameters measured from the MR data, were found to be biased with respect to their values from the microtomography data, although there was a significant correlation between the two modalities.An erratum to this article can be found at     

A faster phase frequency detector using transmission gate–based latch for the reduced response time of the PLL

In this paper, we present a new design of phase frequency detector (PFD) without reset, such that the blind zone and dead zone issues in the phase locked loop are annihilated. The PFD is designed using transmission gate–based latches, which produce UP and DOWN pulses only when there is a distinct phase difference between the reference and divided frequencies. Thus, the continuous pulses that get produced by the conventional NAND gate–based latches are avoided, leading to reduced power consumption of the PFD. The charge pump makes use of an op‐amp used as a buffer, to reduce the current mismatch. The loop filter used is of second order, and the voltage‐controlled oscillator is of conventional current–starved type. The divider makes use of true single‐phase clock latches. It was found that the phase locked loop with new design of PFD, compared with the conventional design, consumes 27% lesser power, and the lock time is decreased by 79%. In addition, it was found that the control voltage swing is reduced by 71%, which leads to much lesser spur content at the output of the voltage‐controlled oscillator.     

基于机制设计理论的调频服务合同的最优设计 (一)合同模型

电力工业的市场化改革在实现资源优化配置的同时也给系统的安全稳定运行带来了更大的挑战.如何保证足够的调频容量是广泛关注的问题之一.针对电力市场环境下电网公司如何激励抽水蓄能电站提供调频辅助服务的问题,运用委托-代理模型研究二者之间最优调频辅助服务合同,得出满足电网公司和抽水蓄能电站双方效用均衡的结果.