Contrast enhancement in atherosclerosis development in a mouse model: in vivo results at 2 Tesla

To develop an MRI method for the evaluation of contrast enhancement in early atherosclerotic plaque development in the abdominal aorta of a mouse model. Male apoE^–/– mice from three groups, respectively 4 (n = 6), 8 (n = 11) and 16 (n = 4) weeks were included. Axial T1 spin echo images of the abdominal aorta were obtained above and below the renal arteries (90 m spatial resolution) before and over 1 h after the injection of a macromolecular contrast agent. Signal enhancement was measured in the vessel wall and compared to histological features. Maximal arterial wall signal enhancement was obtained from 16 to 32 min post injection. During this time, the signal-to-noise ratio increased by a factor up to 1.7 in 16 week mice and 2.7 and 2.4 in 8 and 4 weeks mice, respectively. The enhancement of the arterial wall appeared less pronounced in the oldest mice, 16 weeks old, exhibiting more advanced lesions. Using a macromolecular gadolinium agent, contrast uptake in atherogenesis varies with lesion stage and may be related to vessel-wall permeability. Dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI may be useful to evaluate the atherosclerotic plaque activity in mice.     

23Na microscopy of the mouse heart in vivo using density-weighted chemical shift imaging

The mouse has become an important animal model for human cardiac disease, and the development of techniques for non-invasive imaging of the mouse heart in vivo is, therefore, of great potential interest. Previous magnetic resonance imaging studies have concentrated on pathologically induced changes in cardiac structure and dynamics by acquiring proton images. Further information can be gained by studying cardiac function and physiology using other nuclei, for example, sodium. Sodium imaging of such a small structure presents considerable technical challenges. In this work we show the first sodium images of the mouse heart, with an isotropic spatial resolution of 1 × 1 × 1 mm, acquired in a time of 1.5 h. The ventricles, septum and myocardium are readily distinguishable in these images, which were acquired through the combination of 3D density-weighted chemical shift imaging, optimized instrumentation, and a high magnetic field strength (17.6 T). Measurements of the myocardial:blood sodium concentration in the left and right ventricles agree well with theoretical values.     

Multi-spin-echo J-resolved spectroscopic imaging without water suppression: application to a rat glioma at 7 T

Two-dimensional J-resolved spectroscopy may be used to separate resonances which overlap in 1D NMR spectra. Coupled with spectroscopic imaging (SI), it would give unequivocal information on the distribution of such resonances. Multi-echo acquisition decreases the minimum experimental time of such 4D experiments. The water peak may be used for phase and chemical-shift reference. This study aimed to demonstrate the feasibility of J-resolved SI based on a multi-echo sequence and without water suppression, and its ability to separate the peaks for lactate and mobile lipid in a rat glioma. Experiments were performed on rat brain, without water suppression, at 7 T. The water signal was used for correcting the phase of the echoes. A FOCSY-like acquisition was used to collect the first part of the echoes at short echo times. Two different data processing methods were tested to overcome the problem of contaminations of metabolite signals by the intense water signal. Maps of N-acetylaspartate, choline, creatine, lactate and mobile lipids were obtained in vivo on a rat glioma in 70 min. The in-plane resolution was 2 mm². The 2D spatially resolved, 2D J-resolved spectra enabled the separate mapping of lactate and mobile lipids.     

Evaluation of cartilage repair tissue after biomaterial implantation in rat patella by using T2 mapping

To evaluate the ability of MR T2 mapping (8.5 T) to characterize ex vivo longitudinally, morphologically and quantitatively, alginate-based tissue engineering in a rat model of patellar cartilage chondral focal defect. Calibrated rat patellar cartilage defects (1.3 mm) were created at day 0 (D0) and alginate sponge with (Sp/C+) or without (Sp/C–) autologous chondrocytes were implanted. Animals were sacrificed sequentially at D20, D40 and D60 after surgery and dissected patellae underwent MRI exploration (8.5 T). T2 values were calculated from eight SE images by using nonlinear least-squares curve fitting on a pixel-by-pixel basis (constant repetition time of 1.5 s, eight different echo times: 5.5, 7.5, 10.5, 12.5, 15.0, 20.0, 25.0 and 30.0 ms). On the T2 map, acquired in a transversal plane through the repair zone, global T2 values and zonal variation of T2 values of repair tissue were evaluated versus control group and compared with macroscopic score and histological studies (toluidine blue, sirius red and hematoxylin-eosin). Partial, total and hypertrophic repair patterns were identified. At D40 and D60, Sp/C+ group was characterized by a higher proportion of total repair in comparison to Sp/C– group. At D60, the proportion of hypertrophic repair was two fold in Sp/C– group versus Sp/C+ group. As confirmed morphologically and histologically, the T2 map also permitted the distinction of three types of repair tissue: total, partial and hypertrophic. Total repair tissue was characterized by high T2 values versus normal cartilage (p<0.05). Zonal variation, reflecting the collagen network organization, appeared only at D60 for Sp/C+ group (p<0.05). Hypertrophic tissue, mainly observed at D60, presented high T2 global values without zonal variation with cartilage depth. These results confirm the potency of the MR T2 map (8.5 T) to characterize macroscopically and microscopically the patterns of the scaffold guided-tissue repair of a focal chondral lesion in the rat patella (total, partial and hypertrophic). On T2 map, three parameters (i.e. MRI macroscopic pattern, T2 global values and zonal variation of T2 values) permit to characterize chondral repair tissue, as a virtual biopsy.     

基于Blackfin BF549的嵌入式动态目标实时跟踪系统设计

基于ADI公司Blackfin系列DSP BF549数字图像处理芯片,提出了一种在动态背景下对所采集图像中的动态目标进行实时跟踪与显示的嵌入式设计方案。对系统的工作原理、硬件及软件设计三方面进行了介绍。该设计方案充分利用BF549芯片的高性能视频处理能力,采用基于图像配准的运动目标检测方法,首先将采集的4幅相邻帧图像的背景进行配准,之后再利用差分相乘法,实现了动态背景下运动目标的检测,并利用球机对运动目标进行实时跟踪,最后将跟踪结果显示在TFT液晶屏幕上。     

How background noise shifts eigenvectors and increases eigenvalues in DTI

Indroduction  The signal-to-noise ratio of in vivo diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is usually very limited, especially if high resolution data is acquired. In a variety of settings, the signal of diffusion weighted images can drop below the background noise level yielding an underestimated diffusion constant. In this work, we report two new artefacts in DTI that are important in this regime. Methods  Both artifacts are described analytically and numerically and are demonstrated in DTI phantoms and in subjects in vivo. Results  First, eigenvectors are systematically shifted towards distinct ‘attractive’ orientations of the gradient scheme. Second, certain eigenvalues can be overestimated due to the underestimation of the measured diffusion, which can result in the misordering of eigenvalues Discussion  We show that these effects are relevant for current clinical settings of DTI.     

浅谈天馈线电压驻波比对微波电路的影响

天馈线电压驻波比是微波电路运行的重要指标，通过典型事例来阐述天馈线电压驻波比的劣化对微波电路的影响，并根据多年实践经验提出天馈线维护需注意的事项。     

Development and validation of an algorithm for registration of serial 3D MR breast data sets

We report on the development of an algorithm to improve the registration of serial 3D MR breast images using combined global translation and rotation with locally varying parameters as geometric transformations. Several phantom and volunteer data sets were acquired and registered using mutual information as a similarity measure of the matching process. After applying a global translation by using a rigid matcher, optimum horizontal and vertical rotation angles were determined. In case of the phantom measurements, angle optimization was performed for each slice of the 3D data set of the phantom, which was deliberately shifted and rotated around different axes. In case of registration of volunteer data, optimum rotation parameters were calculated for preselected equidistant slices of the data set to speed up the calculation time. For slices located between and outside these support slices, the rotation angles were calculated by linear interpolation and extrapolation of the slope of the regression determined by the optimized angles of the support slices. The algorithm improves the registration of serial 3D MR data sets and represents a compromise between a rigid and an elastic 3D matching procedure.     

Magnetization transfer short inversion time inversion recovery enhanced 1H MRI of the human lung

The unique characteristics of the human lung arising from low proton density and multiple air-tissue interfaces of the alveoli cause difficulty in¹H lung magnetic resonance imaging. In addition, the dominating signal from sources such as the thoracic muscle and subcutaneous fat hampers the visualization of the lung parenchyma. In this contribution, an efficient tissue suppression technique is presented which allows one to significantly enhance lung parenchyma visibility. A short inversion time inversion recovery (STIR) experiment combined with a magnetization transfer (MT) experiment was used for magnetization preparation in order to suppress the signal from muscle. A half-Fourier single-shot turbo spin-echo sequence was used as acquisition module. This approach was used to perform lung anatomical imaging in eight healthy human subjects and five patients withcystic fibrosis. The results obtained demonstrate that with MT-STIR approach high quality human lung images can be obtained and that this approach has the potential for the evaluation of lung pathologies.     

基于目标场法的磁共振成像小尺寸射频线圈设计

为得到分辨率较高的实蝇磁共振图像(MRI),将目标场法引入小尺寸射频(RF)线圈设计,设计了一种磁场均匀性较好、适合实蝇磁共振成像的小尺寸圆柱体射频线圈。首先采用目标场法求出线圈表面的电流密度分布,利用流函数将电流密度离散为Fourier级数;然后基于Tikhonov正则化的方法,引入最小曲率惩罚函数和最小化电流密度的散度惩罚函数,解决了积分方程的高度病态问题,获得了线圈的绕线形状和感兴趣区域(ROI)内的磁场强度。结果表明,2种惩罚函数对应的惩罚因子λ1和λ2均会对线圈的绕线形状和磁场分布均匀性造成影响;对于不同尺寸的线圈,其合适的λ1和λ2的取值不同。因此,选取λ1和λ2时应综合考虑线圈绕线结构和磁场分布均匀性的要求。