Effect of voluntary repetitive long-lasting muscle contraction activity on the BOLD signal as assessed by optimal hemodynamic response function

Objective

Among other neuroimaging techniques, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) can be useful for studying the development of motor fatigue. The aim of this study was to identify differences in cortical neuronal activation in nine subjects on three motor tasks: right-hand movement with minimum, maximum, and post-fatigue maximum finger flexion.

Materials and methods

fMRI activation maps for each subject and during each condition were obtained by estimating the optimal model of the hemodynamic response function (HRF) out of four standard HRF models and an individual-based HRF model (ibHRF).

Results

ibHRF was selected as the optimal model in six out of nine subjects for minimum movement, in five out of nine for maximum movement, and in eight out of nine for post-fatigue maximum movement. As compared to maximum movement, a large reduction in the total number of active voxels (primary sensorimotor area, supplementary motor area and cerebellum) was observed in post-fatigue maximum movement.

Conclusion

This is the first approach to the evaluation of long-lasting contraction effort in healthy subjects by means of the fMRI paradigm with the use of an individual-based hemodynamic response. The results may be relevant for defining a baseline in future studies on central fatigue in patients with neuropathological disorders.     

Spatial analysis of diffusion tensor tractography statistics along the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus with application in progressive supranuclear palsy

Background

The purpose of the study was to develop a method for analysis of diffusion parameters along white matter (WM) tracts, using spatial normalization based on anatomical landmarks, and to introduce the apparent area coefficient (AAC). The method’s applicability was tested in the inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFO) in patients with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and healthy controls (HCs).

Methods

A framework for analysis of diffusion parameters was developed. Spatial normalization of the tracts was performed using anatomical landmarks, to avoid deformations caused by cerebral atrophy. Initially, 38 HCs were used to optimize a threshold for the minimal size of regions that differ between groups. The fractional anisotropy, mean diffusivity, AAC, and the hemispheric asymmetry index (AI), were compared between 11 PSP patients and 15 HCs.

Results

The method was feasible for analysis of PSP patients and HCs. The AI showed that the observed hemispheric asymmetry of AAC was significantly larger in PSP patients compared with HCs in small regions of the IFO.

Conclusions

The method was successfully employed for analysis of diffusion parameters along the IFO in a patient group. This method can be potentially useful in studies of WM diseases, with or without cerebral atrophy.     

Group ICA of resting-state data: a comparison

Objective

Independent component analysis (ICA) has proven its applicability in both standard and resting-state fMRI. While there is consensus on single-subject ICA methodology, the extension to group ICA is more complex and a number of approaches have been suggested. Currently, two software packages are most frequently used for ICA group analysis: (1) GIFT introduced by Calhoun et al. [7], and (2) PICA, proposed by Beckmann et al. [3]. Both methods are based on the assumption of statistical independence of the extracted component maps (“spatial ICA”). Group maps are estimated via ICA on pre-calculated group data sets.

Material and Methods

In this study, we applied the two analysis approaches to a group of fMRI resting-state data sets obtained from twenty-eight healthy subjects. Default implementations were used and the number of components was restricted to 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, and 35. The performance of GIFT and PICA was assessed with respect to the number of resting-state networks detected at different component estimation levels and computational load.

Results

At low component estimation levels GIFT analysis resulted in more RSNs than PICA, while for individually determined component levels both approaches obtained the same RSNs. Although component maps show some variability across the two methods, spatial and temporal comparison using correlation coefficients resulted in no significant differences between the RSNs detected across the different analyses

Conclusion

Our results show that both approaches provide an adequate way of group ICA obtaining a comparable number of RSNs differing mainly in calculation times.     

The impact of fibre orientation on <Emphasis Type="Italic">T</Emphasis><Subscript>1</Subscript>-relaxation and apparent tissue water content in white matter

Objective

Recent MRI studies have shown that the orientation of nerve fibres relative to the main magnetic field affects the R₂*(= 1/T₂*) relaxation rate in white matter (WM) structures. The underlying physical causes have been discussed in several studies but are still not completely understood. However, understanding these effects in detail is of great importance since this might serve as a basis for the development of new diagnostic tools and/or improve quantitative susceptibility mapping techniques. Therefore, in addition to the known angular dependence of R₂*, the current study investigates the relationship between fibre orientation and the longitudinal relaxation rate, R₁ (= 1/T₁), as well as the apparent water content.

Materials and methods

For a group of 16 healthy subjects, a series of gradient echo, echo-planar and diffusion weighted images were acquired at 3T from which the decay rates, the apparent water content and the diffusion direction were reconstructed. The diffusion weighted data were used to determine the angle between the principle fibre direction and the main magnetic field to examine the angular dependence of R₁ and apparent water content.

Results

The obtained results demonstrate that both parameters depend on the fibre orientation and exhibit a positive correlation with the angle between fibre direction and main magnetic field.

Conclusion

These observations could be helpful to improve and/or constrain existing biophysical models of brain microstructure by imposing additional constraints resulting from the observed angular dependence R₁ and apparent water content in white matter.

     

Characterization of the impact to PET quantification and image quality of an anterior array surface coil for PET/MR imaging

Object

The aim of this study was to determine the impact to PET quantification, image quality and possible diagnostic impact of an anterior surface array used in a combined PET/MR imaging system.

Materials and methods

An extended oval phantom and 15 whole-body FDG PET/CT subjects were re-imaged for one bed position following placement of an anterior array coil at a clinically realistic position. The CT scan, used for PET attenuation correction, did not include the coil. Comparison, including liver SUV_mean, was performed between the coil present and absent images using two methods of PET reconstruction. Due to the time delay between PET scans, a model was used to account for average physiologic time change of SUV.

Results

On phantom data, neglecting the coil caused a mean bias of ?8.2 % for non-TOF/PSF reconstruction, and ?7.3 % with TOF/PSF. On clinical data, the liver SUV neglecting the coil presence fell by ?6.1 % (±6.5 %) for non-TOF/PSF reconstruction; respectively ?5.2 % (±5.3 %) with TOF/PSF. All FDG-avid features seen with TOF/PSF were also seen with non-TOF/PSF reconstruction.

Conclusion

Neglecting coil attenuation for this anterior array coil results in a small but significant reduction in liver SUV_mean but was not found to change the clinical interpretation of the PET images.     

Motor cortical reorganization is present after a single attack of multiple sclerosis devoid of cortico-spinal dysfunction

Object

While occurrence of motor cortical reorganization has been clearly demonstrated in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), it is not yet clear whether this cortical reorganization constitutes a response to cortico-spinal lesions or to more diffuse damage affecting the neuronal network involved in motor act preparation, or both. We proposed to investigate the changes in the activation pattern during a simple motor task devoid of cortico-spinal dysfunction occurring in patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) suggestive of MS.

Materials and methods

Among 15 right-handed CIS patients, we selected eight patients with a preserved central motor pathway established by motor evoked potentials. Ten healthy right-handed gender- and age-matched volunteers were also included. After morphological MRI, subjects performed calibrated conjugated finger flexion and extension movements during fMRI acquision.

Results

In CIS patients, simple movements of the non-dominant hand induced recruitment of the anterior cingulate cortex (BA32) usually involved in complex motor movements. This reorganization was correlated with the diffuse brain tissue damage (brain T ₂ lesion load).

Conclusion

These results suggest that at least part of the cortical reorganization observed during very simple tasks in the earliest stage of MS occurs whether or not the efferent pathways are intact.     

Using the biophysical CHARMED model to elucidate the underpinnings of contrast in diffusional kurtosis analysis of diffusion-weighted MRI

Object

The aim of this work was to understand biophysical substrate underpinning contrast in diffusional kurtosis imaging (DKI) in white matter, using the composite hindered and restricted model of diffusion (CHARMED).

Materials and methods

A theoretical relationship between the kurtosis function K and the CHARMED parameters, i.e., the restricted volume fraction RF and the axonal longitudinal diffusivity D was derived for the propagator used in the CHARMED model. Evidence for a similar correlation between these measures was then investigated in vivo across different WM regions in five healthy young subjects that underwent a CHARMED protocol at 3T.

Results

Our theoretical treatment shows that K has an increasing trend for both increasing RF values and increasing D. In vivo, a significant positive correlation (P?K _⊥ and RF. A multilinear regression showed that K _⊥ values are better explained by a mixed contribution of both RF and D.

Conclusions

The CHARMED model was used to understand whether and where DKI contrast can be explained in terms of the underlying axonal geometry. This work demonstrates that the information contained in DKI overlaps with the information extracted by CHARMED in areas of higher intra-voxel directional coherence.     

Comparison of functional connectivity in default mode and sensorimotor networks at 3 and 7T

Object

The objective of this work was to assess functional connectivity measurements at ultra-high field (7T), given BOLD contrast to noise ratio increases with magnetic field strength but physiological noise also increases.

Materials and methods

Resting state BOLD data were acquired at 3 and 7T to assess connectivity in the sensorimotor network (SMN) and default mode network (DMN) at different spatial smoothing levels.

Results

At 3 and 7T positive correlation is observed between a right sensorimotor seed and left sensorimotor cortex. For the DMN, a seed in posterior cingulate cortex results in a high correlation in inferior parietal lobes and medial prefrontal cortex. We show higher temporal correlation coefficients for both the SMN and DMN at 7T compared to 3T for all smoothing levels. A spatial correlation between connectivity maps revealed no significant differences for the SMN, whilst the DMN showed increased spatial correlation dependent on SNR. The maximum physiological noise contribution was found to be higher at 7T, but noise in both seed and network nodes was not significantly increased, as shown by no significant difference in the spatial correlation of maps following physiological correction.

Conclusion

7T can improve spatial specificity of connectivity maps and facilitate measurement of connectivity in areas of lower intrinsic network correlation.     

Image artifacts from MR-based attenuation correction in clinical, whole-body PET/MRI

Purpose

Integrated whole-body PET/MRI tomographs have become available. PET/MR imaging has the potential to supplement, or even replace combined PET/CT imaging in selected clinical indications. However, this is true only if methodological pitfalls and image artifacts arising from novel MR-based attenuation correction (MR-AC) are fully understood.

Results

Here we present PET/MR image artifacts following routine MR-AC, as most frequently observed in clinical operations of an integrated whole-body PET/MRI system.

Conclusion

A clinical adoption of integrated PET/MRI should entail the joint image display and interpretation of MR data, MR-based attenuation maps and uncorrected plus attenuation-corrected PET images in order to recognize potential pitfalls from MR-AC and to ensure clinically accurate image interpretation.     

Highly accelerated PSF-mapping for EPI distortion correction with improved fidelity

Objective

This study presents an improved point-spread-function (PSF) mapping-based distortion correction method and accelerated PSF acquisition for distortion correction in EPI without loss of quality or reliability compared to full encoding.

Materials and methods

To correct geometric distortions accurately, the PSF in the EPI phase-encoding coordinates (EPI-PSF) was measured and used as a kernel for distortion correction. FOV reduction was applied in the PSF mapping dimension for highly accelerated PSF acquisition. A novel approach for fold-over artifact correction in this reduced dimension is introduced. Conventional gradient-echo EPI and corresponding full PSF reference data were acquired in phantoms and in human brain at 7 T. The distortion corrected EPI data with the proposed acceleration were compared to result with full encoding. Previously published interpolation methods based on shift maps, non-uniform Fourier transformation and a b-spline interpolation were compared with the proposed method.

Results

The results demonstrate that the proposed method corrects geometric distortions in EPI with high accuracy and quality despite the high acceleration. In contrast to partial parallel imaging acceleration, no noise enhancement is introduced.

Conclusion

The proposed EPI-PSF-based distortion correction improves correction of EPI and accelerates PSF reference data acquisition and computation.     

Assessment of diffusion tensor imaging indices in calf muscles following postural change from standing to supine position

Object

To investigate whether postural change from erect to recumbent position affects calf muscle water diffusivity.

Materials and methods

Ten healthy adults (27.2 ± 4.9 years, 3 females) were imaged at baseline (following assumption of recumbent position), and after 34 min (session 2) and 64 min (session 3) of laying supine within a 3T MRI scanner. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) eigenvalues, fractional anisotropy (FA) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were evaluated in five calf muscles (anterior and posterior tibialis and triceps surae) during each of the three imaging sessions.

Results

Significant decreases were observed in all of the eigenvalues and ADC in each of the muscles with postural change. These reductions ranged from 3.2 to 6.7 % and 3.4 to 7.5 % for the various DTI metrics, following 34 and 64 min of supine rest, respectively (P < 0.05). No significant differences were noted in ADC or eigenvalues between the second and third imaging sessions for any muscle. FA did not change significantly with postural manipulation in any muscle compartment.

Conclusion

Diffusion tensor imaging indices were altered with postural change. As differences were not apparent between the latter two imaging sessions, we suggest that a short supine resting period (~34 min) is sufficient for muscle diffusivity to stabilize prior to quantitative MR imaging in healthy young adults.     

Evaluation of a mobile NMR sensor for determining skin layers and locally estimating the T2eff relaxation time in the lower arm

Object

The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) mobile-universal-surface-explorer (MOUSE) was evaluated in a pilot study to determine its ability to detect physiological changes in human skin caused by physical or pharmacological interventions.

Materials and methods

The left lower arm skin thicknesses of ten male subjects were measured five times using a Profile NMR-MOUSE^? (¹H, 19?MHz) before and after a venous occlusion manoeuvre. In five of the subjects, the T_2eff relaxation times were derived from a bi-exponential fitting and were determined in the dermis and subcutis before and after applying a salve containing capsaicin.

Results

The dermis (including the epidermis) showed rather homogeneous signal amplitudes. The subcutis was characterised by higher and more variable amplitudes. The full-skin thickness values were affirmed by ultrasound imaging. The NMR profiles did not show significant skin swelling due to venous occlusion. In the dermis, capsaicin caused significant (p?<?0.05) decreases in both components of T _2eff (100?±?19?ms?C19?±?10?ms; 9.5?±?0.5?ms?C7.2?±?1.6?ms). In the subcutis, the T _2eff was not affected.

Conclusion

In principle, NMR-MOUSE profiles are capable of detecting skin structure. However, precise measurements are jeopardised by poor reproducibility, long acquisition times, and incompatibility between the geometries of the sensitive area of the instrument and the non-planar structure of the skin. In the dermis, T _2eff contrast could be used to detect the changes in tissue composition caused by inflammatory reactions.     

Alleviating artifacts in 1H MRI thermometry by single scan spatiotemporal encoding

Objective

Recent years have seen an increased interest in combining MRI thermometry with devices capable of destroying malignancies by heat ablation. Expected from the MR protocols are accurate and fast thermal characterizations, providing real time feedback on restricted tissue volumes and/or rapidly moving organs like liver. This article explores the potential advantages of relying on spatiotemporally encoded (SPEN) sequences for retrieving real-time thermometric images based on the water’s proton resonance frequency (PRF) shifts.

Materials and methods

Hybrid spatiotemporal/k-space encoding single-scan MRI experiments were implemented on animal and human scanners, and their abilities to deliver single- and multi-slice real-time thermometric measurements based on PRF-derived phase maps in phantoms and in vivo, were compared against echo planar imaging (EPI) and gradient-echo counterparts.

Results

Under comparable acquisition conditions, SPEN exhibited advantages vis-à-vis EPI in terms of dealing with inhomogeneous magnetic field distortions, with shifts arising due to changes in the central frequency offsets, with PRF distributions, and for zooming into restricted fields-of-view without special pulse sequence provisions.

Conclusion

This work confirms the ability of SPEN sequences, particularly when implemented under fully-refocused conditions, to exploit their built-in robustness to shift- and field-derived inhomogeneities for monitoring thermal changes in real-time under in vitro and in vivo conditions.     

Quantitative breast MRI: 2D histogram analysis of diffusion tensor parameters in normal tissue

Object

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the breast may provide a powerful new approach for the detection of intraductal processes. The aim of this investigation was to characterize the relation between diffusion tensor parameters [fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD)] in normal breast tissue to obtain information on the microenvironment of the diffusing water molecules and to provide a systematic approach for DTI analysis.

Materials and methods

Seven female, healthy volunteers underwent prospective double-spin-echo prepared echo-planar diffusion-weighted sequence (TR/TE 8,250 ms/74 ms, b values 0 and 500 s/mm (2), six encoding directions, 12 averages, 35 slices) in 4 consecutive weeks (3.0 T). Quantitative maps of diffusion tensor parameters were computed offline with custom routines. The interdependence of MD and FA in different voxels was analysed by linear and exponential regression.

Results

All MD and FA maps were of excellent quality. A consistent pattern was observed in that lower fractional anisotropy values were more likely associated with higher mean diffusivity values. The dependence exhibited an exponential behavior with a correlation coefficient R = 0.60 (R linear = 0.57).

Conclusion

The likelihood with which FA and MD values are observed in a voxel within normal breast tissue is characterized by a specific pattern, which can be described by an exponential model. Moreover, we could show that the proposed technique does not depend on the menstrual cycle.     

The effect of diffusion gradient direction number on corticospinal tractography in the human brain: an along-tract analysis

Objectives

We evaluated diffusion imaging measures of the corticospinal tract obtained with a probabilistic tractography algorithm applied to data of two acquisition protocols based on different numbers of diffusion gradient directions (NDGDs).

Materials and methods

The corticospinal tracts (CST) of 18 healthy subjects were delineated using 22 and 66-NDGD data. An along-tract analysis of diffusion metrics was performed to detect possible local differences due to NDGD.

Results

FA values at 22-NDGD showed an increase along the central portion of the CST. The mean of partial volume fraction of the orientation of the second fiber (f2) was higher at 66-NDGD bilaterally, because for 66-NDGD data the algorithm more readily detects dominant fiber directions beyond the first, thus the increase in FA at 22-NDGD is due to a substantially reduced detection of crossing fiber volume. However, the good spatial correlation between the tracts drawn at 22 and 66 NDGD shows that the extent of the tract can be successfully defined even at lower NDGD.

Conclusions

Given the spatial tract localization obtained even at 22-NDGD, local analysis of CST can be performed using a NDGD compatible with clinical protocols. The probabilistic approach was particularly powerful in evaluating crossing fibers when present.

     

The size of cytoplasmic lipid droplets varies between tumour cell lines of the nervous system: a 1H NMR spectroscopy study

Object

Cytoplasmic lipid droplets (LDs) are dynamic cellular organelles; their accumulation is associated with several cellular processes, such as cell proliferation, apoptosis and necrosis. ¹H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy detects resonances from lipids present in cytoplasmic (LDs); an understanding of the relationship between LD characteristics and NMR lipid signals is important.

Materials and methods

In this study, five nervous system cancer cell lines were investigated. Nile red staining was used to measure the diameter of LDs. High-resolution magic angle spinning NMR (HR-MAS) was performed on harvested cell pellets to quantify the patterns of lipid signals.

Results

LDs were present in all five cell lines with different morphology. An average LD diameter of approximately 0.2???m was found in all cell types. Diameter of the largest LDs varied across the cell lines. The intensity of NMR lipid signals varied greatly between cell types, and a good correlation was found between total volume of LDs and the proton NMR lipid signal intensity at 0.9 and 1.3?ppm.

Conclusion

The correlation implied that little NMR signal is detected from LDs of diameters less than approximately 0.34???m, most likely due to restriction of rotational motion of the lipids.     

Diffusion simulation-based fiber tracking using time-of-arrival maps: a comparison with standard methods

Object

We propose a new tracking method based on time-of-arrival (TOA) maps derived from simulated diffusion processes.

Materials and methods

The proposed diffusion simulation-based tracking consists of three steps that are successively evaluated on small overlapping sub-regions in a diffusion tensor field. First, the diffusion process is simulated for several time steps. Second, a TOA map is created to store simulation results for the individual time steps that are required for the tract reconstruction. Third, the fiber pathway is reconstructed on the TOA map and concatenated between neighboring sub-regions. This new approach is compared with probabilistic and streamline tracking. All methods are applied to synthetic phantom data for an easier evaluation of their fiber reconstruction quality.

Results

The comparison of the tracking results did show severe problems for the streamline approach in the reconstruction of crossing fibers, for example. The probabilistic method was able to resolve the crossing, but could not handle strong curvature. The new diffusion simulation-based tracking could reconstruct all problematic fiber constellations.

Conclusion

The proposed diffusion simulation-based tracking method used the whole tensor information of a neighborhood of voxels and is, therefore, able to handle problematic tracking situations better than established methods.     

Investigating the state-of-the-art in whole-body MR-based attenuation correction: an intra-individual,inter-system,inventory study on three clinical PET/MR systems

Objective

We assess inter- and intra-subject variability of magnetic resonance (MR)-based attenuation maps (MRμMaps) of human subjects for state-of-the-art positron emission tomography (PET)/MR imaging systems.

Materials and methods

Four healthy male subjects underwent repeated MR imaging with a Siemens Biograph mMR, Philips Ingenuity TF and GE SIGNA PET/MR system using product-specific MR sequences and image processing algorithms for generating MRμMaps. Total lung volumes and mean attenuation values in nine thoracic reference regions were calculated. Linear regression was used for comparing lung volumes on MRμMaps. Intra- and inter-system variability was investigated using a mixed effects model.

Results

Intra-system variability was seen for the lung volume of some subjects, (p = 0.29). Mean attenuation values across subjects were significantly different (p < 0.001) due to different segmentations of the trachea. Differences in the attenuation values caused noticeable intra-individual and inter-system differences that translated into a subsequent bias of the corrected PET activity values, as verified by independent simulations.

Conclusion

Significant differences of MRμMaps generated for the same subjects but different PET/MR systems resulted in differences in attenuation correction factors, particularly in the thorax. These differences currently limit the quantitative use of PET/MR in multi-center imaging studies.

     

Lateralization of amygdala activation in fMRI may depend on phase-encoding polarity

Object

Susceptibility artifacts along the phase-encoding (PE) direction impact the activation pattern in the amygdala and may lead to systematic asymmetries. We implemented a triple-echo echo-planar imaging (EPI) sequence, acquiring opposite PE polarities along left?Cright PE direction in a single shot, to investigate its effects on amygdala lateralization.

Materials and Methods

Twelve subjects viewed emotional faces to evoke amygdala activation.

Results and Conclusion

A region of interest analysis revealed that the lateralization of amygdala responses depended on the PE polarity thus representing a pure method artifact. Alternating PE with multi-echo EPI reduced the artifact. Lateralized fMRI activation in areas with magnetic field inhomogeneities need to be interpreted with caution.     

Distortion correction of echo planar images applying the concept of finite rate of innovation to point spread function mapping (FRIP)

Objective

Point spread function (PSF) mapping enables estimating the displacement fields required for distortion correction of echo planar images. Recently, a highly accelerated approach was introduced for estimating displacements from the phase slope of under-sampled PSF mapping data. Sampling schemes with varying spacing were proposed requiring stepwise phase unwrapping. To avoid unwrapping errors, an alternative approach applying the concept of finite rate of innovation to PSF mapping (FRIP) is introduced, using a pattern search strategy to locate the PSF peak, and the two methods are compared.

Materials and methods

Fully sampled PSF data was acquired in six subjects at 3.0 T, and distortion maps were estimated after retrospective under-sampling. The two methods were compared for both previously published and newly optimized sampling patterns. Prospectively under-sampled data were also acquired. Shift maps were estimated and deviations relative to the fully sampled reference map were calculated.

Results

The best performance was achieved when using FRIP with a previously proposed sampling scheme. The two methods were comparable for the remaining schemes. The displacement field errors tended to be lower as the number of samples or their spacing increased.

Conclusion

A robust method for estimating the position of the PSF peak has been introduced.