bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Predictive Value of Multimodal MRI using spectroscopy and perfusion can distinguish between pseudoprogression and disease progression in GBM
Authors: El-Abtah Mohamed , Talati Pratik , Fu Melanie , Chun Benjamin , Clark Patrick , Peters Anna , Ranasinghe Anthony , He Julian , Rapalino Otto , Gonzalez Gilberto , Curry William , Dietrich Jorg , Gerstner Elizabeth , Ratai Eva-Maria
Published: August 2023

There is a need to determine clinical markers that can distinguish between pseudoprogression (PsP) and true progression after patients with GBM undergo resection followed by chemoradiation. We conducted a retrospective study of collected magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) and perfusion weighted imaging (PWI) data with the aim of investigating their utility in predicting tumor progression. Within the enhancing region on post-contrast T1 imaging, patients with true progression have decreased myo-Inositol normalized by contralateral creatinine (mI/c-Cr), elevated lactate normalized to glutamate+glutamine (Lac/Glx), and elevated relative cerebral blood flow (rCBF) relative to those with PsP.
Development of a High-Speed MRI Protocol with Deep Learning Reconstruction Method for Brain Imaging in a Clinical Setting
Authors: Quarterman Patrick
Published: August 2023

The purpose of this study was to develop a High-Speed MRI (hsMRI) protocol with deep learning reconstruction (DL Recon) for adult and pediatric brain imaging to provide consistent, stout image quality in less than 1/4 the scan time of standard protocols. This was achieved utilizing FSE T1, SS T2w, Gradient Echo (GRE) T2*, and Diffusion Weighted & FLAIR Echo Plane Imaging (EPI) sequences. Evaluation was performed on of 20 patients comparing current protocol to hsMRI with results indicating imaging using hsMRI protocol was of clinically diagnostic quality allowing significant reduction in scan times compared to industry standard routine brain imaging protocols.
Investigation of Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption in Schizophrenia using Magnetization Transfer-ASL at 7T.
Authors: Mahmud Sultan Zaman , Lahti Adrienne , Kraguljac Nina V. , Denney Thomas S. , Bashir Adil
Published: August 2023

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a central nervous system (CNS) disease which is characterized by thinking disorder, cognitive impairments and other clinical manifestations that alter daily functioning. SCZ currently does not have satisfactory treatment options to improve cognitive symptoms. Deeper understanding of the underlying mechanism is required for effective treatment of SCZ. Blood-brain barrier (BBB) is the immunological junction between brain and vascular circulation, and its disruption is associated with a number of CNS diseases. This study aims to investigate if the BBB is compromised in SCZ.
Transcytolemmal water exchange in prostate manifest via DCE-MRI and DWI kurtosis imaging
Authors: Li Xin , Kopp Ryan , Baker Eric , Moloney Brendan , Rooney William , Springer Charles , Coakley Fergus , Gartotto Mark
Published: August 2023

Transcytolemmal water exchange effects are quantified with SSM-DCE MRI and DWI kurtosis imaging with b-values up to 2000 s/mm2. The two-dimensional scatter plot of the unidirectional cellular water efflux rate constant (kio) and the diffusion kurtosis (K) shows good separation between lesion and normal appearing prostate tissue.
Brain Iron Deposition in Healthy Aging and association with Alzheimer’s Disease Pathology Revealed by Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping
Authors: Lin Qixiang , Wu Junjie , Huang Shuai , Bisht Aditya , Levey Allan , Lah James , Qiu Deqiang
Published: August 2023

This study aims to evaluate brain iron depositions in healthy aging and asymptomatic Alzheimer’s Disease using Quantitative Susceptibility Mapping (QSM) MR technique. 3D-GRE scans were performed in 146 healthy old and 58 healthy young participants. Whole-brain voxel-wise analysis showed increased susceptibility value in bilateral basal ganglia and widespread cortical regions. Significant correlations were found between CSF biomarkers of AD and susceptibility value in the caudate and left orbital frontal area. Together these results suggest microstructural alterations associated with healthy aging and AD-related CSF biomarkers. QSM measurements might provide sensitive neuroimaging biomarkers for iron deposition during normal aging and neurodegeneration diseases.
On the relationship between slice-GRAPPA, LeakBlock, and in-plane GRAPPA in the reconstruction of accelerated MRI data
Authors: Hoge W. Scott , Polimeni Jonathan
Published: August 2023

The structural relationship between the linear system of equations used to calibrate inplane-GRAPPA, slice-GRAPPA, and LeakBlock for SMS is analyzed. This analysis reveals that LeakBlock is structurally identical to inplane-GRAPPA in the specific case of a (synthetic) zero-slice-gap. Signal leakage in the original slice-GRAPPA formulation is thus revealed to be due to signal cancellation in the original formulation. This relationship between inplane-GRAPPA and LeakBlock further justifies its preferred usage over the original slice-GRAPPA formulation for the separation of slice-accelerated data.
Two-Step Semi-Supervised Denoising for Low-field Diffusion MRI
Authors: Schlemper Jo , Dey Neel , Salehi Seyed Sadegh Mohseni , Sheth Kevin , Kimberly W. Taylor , Sofka Michal
Published: August 2023

In clinical low-field MRI, prolonged data acquisition is impractical, limiting the achievable SNR during imaging. In the absence of ground truth, unsupervised denoising is desirable, but many of them underperform on correlated noise structure of reconstructed MR images. In this work, we present an effective two step training framework for removing correlated MR noise without ground truth. We demonstrate that the proposed approach outperforms the existing denoising methods when applied to the low-field (64mT) diffusion-weighted images and demonstrate that significant noise reduction is possible. 82.5% of processed images were expertly rated clearly/far better overall.
Comparison of Single- and Dual-R2* Relaxivity and Estimation of Fat Fraction Using Steatosis Modeling and Monte Carlo Simulations
Authors: Shrestha Utsav , Esparza Juan , Satapathy Sanjaya , Vanatta Jason , Tipirneni-Sajja Aaryani
Published: August 2023

MRI multi-spectral fat-water models assuming single or independent R2* for fat (R2*F) and water (R2*F) are non-invasive fat fraction (FF) quantification techniques, but there is no consensus on which is more accurate. Monte Carlo simulations allowed correlation of single R2*, R2*F, and R2*W with FF and assessment of the R2* models. MRI signal was synthesized by creating a virtual hepatic steatosis model from extracted characteristics of fat droplets (FD) obtained using histology. R2*W and single R2* were within the confidence bound of the in-vivo calibration and both R2* models predicted FF with high accuracy which confirms the suitability of Monte-Carlo model to mimic steatosis condition.
Group-level adaptive-analysis of task fMRI data
Authors: Zhuang Xiaowei , Yang Zhengshi , Curran Tim , Nandy Rajesh , Lowe Mark , Cordes Dietmar
Published: August 2023

A task-fMRI group-level analysis method is proposed to incorporate spatial covariance structures in fMRI data using the subject-level steerable filter smoothing with various full-wide-half-maximums followed by a group-level one-step optimization. Subject-level smoothed time series are further orthogonalized to guarantee non-overlapped contributions to group-level activations. Using the proposed method, we are able to detect more accurate activations in both simulated data and during a real-fMRI episodic memory task.
In vivo pH Measurement by T2ex Relaxometry of Iodinated Contrast Agent and Comparison with CEST pH Imaging
Authors: Irrera Pietro , Jardim-Perassi Bruna Victorasso , Ruiz Epifanio , Budzevich Mikalai , Lau Justin , Gillies Robert
Published: August 2023

This work is based on a well-known MRI property, the transverse relaxation changes of bulk water due to the presence of a solute with water-exchangeable protons. Many molecules can exhibit this ability to change water T2, such as glucose, urea, ammonium chloride, metals and paramagnetic complexes. Here we used the FDA-approved iodinated agent iopamidol (Isovue), widely used for CEST applications, as a T2ex agent to quantify pH in vitro and in vivo, since its –NH groups exhibit pH-dependent exchange rates with water protons. Computed tomography provided iopamidol concentrations to complement the MR relaxometry measurements, allowing determination of pH in vivo.
Measuring cerebral venous oxygenation: multi-site multi-vendor standardization of TRUST MRI and association with end-tidal CO2
Authors: Eldirdiri Abubakr , Zhuo Jiachen , Lin Zixuan , Lu Hanzhang , Gullapalli Rao , Jiang Dengrong
Published: August 2023

This work presents a multi vendor multi-site MRI study in which a TRUST sequence was harmonized across three MRI platforms from GE, Siemens, and Philips to measure the cerebral venous oxygenation Yv. We carried out intra-scanner and inter-scanner analysis on the variability of the venous oxygenation measurements and demonstrated high measurements reproducibility across the three platforms. Moreover, we examined the relationship between the fluctuations in end-tidal CO2 and the Yv measurements and showed that end-tidal CO2 can reduce the variability in Yv measurements in multi-site setting.
A 15-channel End-coated Half-wave Dipole Antenna Array System for Foot/Ankle/Calf Imaging at 7T
Authors: Bhosale Aditya , Ying Leslie L , Zhang Xiaoliang
Published: August 2023

This study proposes a new 15-channel end-coated half-wave dipole antenna array system for foot/ankle/calf imaging at 7T. The ends of the dipole antennas, operating at 300MHz, are coated with a high-permittivity dielectric material to decrease their length and flatten the B1 field simultaneously. The end-coated dipole antennas are placed around the region of interest to gain the required B1 coverage in the imaging target.
Real-time free-running cardiac imaging with ultra-fast reconstruction technique
Authors: Li Zhongsen , Wei Hanyu , Chen Shuo , Liu Chuyu , Fu Mingzhu , Qiu Wei , Wang Shuai , Wei Haining , Sun Haozhong , Zhao Xihai , Li Rui
Published: August 2023

In this study we have realized a real-time free-running cardiac imaging technique which can provide a continuous high-temporal-resolution movie of the heart during the whole acquisition process. This technique is based on the constrained partial separable model, which has been elaborately designed and optimized to achieve maximum reconstruction speed. Over two thousands dynamic frames of the heart can be acquired and reconstructed in just only 1 minute, without any ECG or respiratory monitoring devices needed. This technique has great potential for the cardiac imaging for patients with arrhythmia.
Assessment of myocardial microstructural change using novel motion compensated technique in cardiac diffusion tensor imaging
Authors: Ueki Wataru , Morita Yoshiaki , Ueda Yu , Shiotani Masaru , Yamamoto Tatsuhiro , Nagai Yasuhiro , Ohta Yasutoshi , Murakawa Keizo , Fukuda Tetsuya
Published: August 2023

The accelerated motion compensation (aMC) using higher order motion compensated gradients with asymmetric bipolar diffusion waveform can improve the image quality of cardiac DTI compared with conventional method and provide the relatively constant DTI marker. In LVH patients, aMC-DTI derived possible preliminary insights into detection of abnormal changes in myocardial microstructures in-vivo, even in segments without LGE.
Weakly-Supervised Carotid Vessel Wall Sub-pixel Segmentation Using Global-Local Context Aggregation and PolarMask
Authors: Dou Jiaqi , Tian Song , Li Yuze , Xu Ziming , Chen Shuo , Wang Yajie , Chen Huijun
Published: August 2023

Carotid vessel wall segmentation on 3D black-blood MRI is a key step in plaque burden assessment and atherosclerotic lesions identification. In this study, a two-stage weakly-supervised carotid vessel wall segmentation approach was developed using limited manual delineations on 3D black-blood MR images. First, a global-local context aggregation strategy was used to identify bilateral carotid arteries robustly. Then, distances from artery center to boundaries were regressed in a polar coordinate by PolarMask to segment the vessel wall. The proposed segmentation approach outperformed Attention UNet (Quantitative score: 0.795±0.170 vs. 0.729±0.208) and showed great potential in quantitative atherosclerosis analysis.
Characteristics of left atrial strain in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy comorbid HF with preserved EF: evaluation by CMR-feature tracking
Authors: Rui Shi , Yue Gao , Li-ting Shen , Zhi-gang Yang
Published: August 2023

The majority of heart failure (HF) in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) manifests as a phenotype with preserved left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction, however, the exact contribution of left atrial (LA) phasic function to HF with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) in HCM remains unresolved. We designed the study to define the association between LA function and HFpEF in HCM patients using cardiac MRI feature tracking. The result revealed that LA phasic function was severely impaired in HCM patients with HFpEF, whereas LV function was not further impaired compared with non-HF patients.
Regional fat distributions are associated with subclinical right ventricular dysfunction in adults with uncomplicated obesity
Authors: Liu Jing , Li Jing , Pu Huaxia , He Wenzhang , Li Xue , Zhou Xiaoyue , Tong Nanwei , Peng Liqing
Published: August 2023

This study evaluated right ventricular (RV) functional changes using cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) tissue tracking and the association of these changes with fat distributions in obese adults with no clinical signs or comorbidities. The results showed that CMR tissue tracking can detect subclinical RV dysfunction with preserved RV ejection fraction in obese adults. Central obesity, represented by android fat, trunk fat, and the android/gynoid fat mass ratio, had a deleterious effect on RV subclinical dysfunction, whereas peripheral obesity (gynoid fat) might have had a protective effect. These findings could contribute to more precise obesity management in clinical practice.
Early MR radiomic biomarkers for re-hemorrhage after Gamma Knife Radiosurgery in Cavernous Malformation
Authors: Kuo Pei-Hsuan , Lee Cheng-Chia , Yang Huai-Che , Wu Hsiu-Mei , Lu Chia-Feng
Published: August 2023

Cavernous malformation (CM) is one of the common cerebral vascular diseases. Hemorrhage is a common and dangerous symptom of CMs, and re-hemorrhage may still occur in 30% of patients after the treatment of Gamma Knife radiosurgery (GKRS). Till now, the prediction of occurrences of future re-hemorrhage in CMs are still less explored. In this study, we used statistical analyses to observe longitudinal changes in MRI radiomic features before re-hemorrhage after GKRS. We aimed to identify the reliable image biomarkers using the quantitative and non-invasive MRI technique as early predictors to guide the clinical management for CM patients.
Small-patch CNN and random forest to model and quantify the lenticulostriate artery from 7T time-of-flight MR angiography
Authors: Li Zhixin , Sun Dongbiao , Wu Yue , Ling Chen , An Jing , Yuan Yun , Wang Zhaoxia , Xue Rong , Zhuo Yan , Zhang Zihao
Published: August 2023

Time-of-flight MR angiography at 7T allowed noninvasive visualization of the lenticulostriate artery (LSA). However, vasculature modeling of LSA remained challenging due to limited signal-to-noise ratio and pulsation artifact. In this study, we introduced an automated vascular segmentation and tracing method based on small-patch convolutional neural network (CNN), random forest, and multiple filtering. This method outperformed existing U-NET based methods and found radius changes of LSA branches in patients with cerebral small vessel diseases (cSVD). The automated quantification of LSA vasculatures will potentially facilitate diagnosis and clinical studies of cSVD.
Characterization of Corticospinal Tract Injury along Fibers by Automated Fiber Quantification in Stroke
Authors: Liu Fan , Wei Yu , Yu Qiurong , Wang Hewei , Yin Dazhi , Xu Guojun , Guo Miao , Liu Ling , Li Qianwen , Fan Mingxia
Published: August 2023

Previous DTI studies mainly detected partial ROIs or mean diffusion profiles of corticospinal tract (CST), few revealed changes along CST trajectory. We used Automated Fiber Quantification (AFQ) derived from DTI to investigate whether diffusion parameters changes were localized to its specific regions or spread throughout. The results showed AFQ traced out a clearer picture of the damaged CST along its trajectory in patients with hemiplegia after stroke. Furthermore, the severity of several damaged CST segments was correlated with motor scores, possibly providing more accurate and reliable "target" regions for assessing clinical prognosis and the efficacy of motor rehabilitation.
Early Dynamics of Regional Volume and Diffusion Characteristics after Experimental Neonatal Hypoxic Ischemia with Different Damage Outcomes
Authors: Chan Po-Yu , Huang Chiao-Ching , Lu Chia-Feng , Hsieh Bao-Yu , Kao Yu-Chieh Jill
Published: August 2023

To stratify neonates with different outcomes of hypoxic ischemia (HI) within few hours after birth for the subsequent therapeutic hypothermia, the spatiotemporal profile of MR measurements between two severity outcome groups was depicted as early at 6 h after insult. Changes in volumes, ADC and FA values were observed among different brain regions, suggesting different susceptibility of brain regions to HI in the acute phase of HI.
Evaluation of Secondary Prevention Effectiveness of Ginkgo Biloba Extract (EGb 761) in Acute Ischemic Stroke by QSM and Venous Oxygen Saturation
Authors: Lan Wen-Ting , Wu Yue-Fei , Zhang Hui , Ruan Xin-Zhong , Huang Yi , Li Xiao-Jing , Wu Yunzhu
Published: August 2023

In this study, we applied quantitative susceptibility mapping (QSM) and venous oxygen saturation measurement in acute ischemic stroke patients who took ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761) treatment. EGb 761’s secondary prevention effectiveness of ischemic stroke patients with cerebral microbleeds was similar to Aspirin. Furthermore, Ginkgo biloba extract could not only improve neuroprotective efficiency and prognosis by increasing oxygen saturation of the vein near infarction, but also could reduce the incidence of adverse side effects such as gastrointestinal ulcers and bleeding usually caused by Aspirin.
The Diagnostic Value of Extracellular Volume Fraction in Different Pathological Types of Lung Cancer – a preliminary study
Authors: Zhao Peng , Yang Yongqing , Wang Yu , Ma Wenjing , Lin Xiangtao , Mengxiao Liu , Zu Lu , Yang Tao , Yuan Letian , Cheng Yani , Sun Shanshan , Cai Shuo , Zhang Wei
Published: August 2023

Chest scans were performed on 42 lung cancer patients using MRI and CT scanners to calculate ECV. Using one-way analysis of variance, the ECV calculated based on CT is statistically different between SCLC and NSCLC, there is no statistical difference between squamous cell carcinoma and adenocarcinoma, and the ECV calculated based on MRI is statistically different among the three.It can be seen that ECV can be accurate and non-invasive assessment of the pathological type of lung cancer, and MRI-ECV has a higher diagnostic efficiency than CT-ECV, can provide some help for the choice of clinical treatment options.
Feasibility of an abdominal thin-slice breath-hold single-shot FSE sequence processed using a deep learning-based noise-reduction approach
Authors: Tajima Taku , Akai Hiroyuki , Yasaka Koichiro , Kunimatsu Akira , Akahane Masaaki , Yoshioka Naoki , Abe Osamu , Ohtomo Kuni , Kiryu Shigeru
Published: August 2023

Single-shot fast spin echo (single-shot FSE) sequence is an accelerated T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) in pancreatic MRI. Fast advanced spin echo (FASE) is one of similar modalities. However, single-shot FSE suffers from image blurring and relatively low tissue contrast. We hypothesized that denoising approach with deep learning-based reconstruction (dDLR) would facilitate accelerated breath-hold thin-slice single-shot FSE MRI. We assessed the image quality of respiratory-triggered FSE T2WI (Resp-FSE) and breath-hold FASE with and without dDLR (BH-dDLR-FASE and BH-FASE, respectively) at 1.5 T. The image quality of BH-dDLR-FASE was superior to BH-FASE and Resp-FSE, and BH-dDLR-FASE had a shorter acquisition time than Resp-FSE.
High-Resolution Diffusion-Weighted Imaging of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)
Authors: Zhang Hui , Wang Chengyan , Wu Peng , Shi Huazheng , Chen Weibo , Wang He
Published: August 2023

Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is a widely used tool for diagnosing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, clinical routine liver DWI suffers from poor spatial resolution, severe geometry distortion, and image blurring since single-shot (SSH) echo-planar imaging (EPI) is used. Here we proposed an efficient solution for clinical high-resolution whole-liver DWI. The efficacy and generalization capability of the method were validated on healthy volunteers and HCC patients.
Stage liver fibrosis and inflammatory activity using radiomic models based on easy access magnetic resonance images
Authors: Wei Huanhuan , Fu Fangfang , Wu Yaping , Bai Yan , Meng Nan , Wei Wei , Liu Kewei , Zhang Xianchang , Wang Meiyun
Published: August 2023

Invasive pathological puncture biopsy is the diagnostic standard for liver fibrosis (LF), but it has certain risks and low repeatability. A non-invasive and reliable method is essential for early detecting and staging of LF. To this end, this study explored the feasibility of using radiomics approach based on easy access T1-weighted and T2-weighted fat saturation magnetic resonance imaging data to stage the liver fibrosis and inflammatory activity. The receiver operating curves analysis demonstrated that the trained radiomic models could effectively stage the LF and inflammatory activity with a high efficacy.
The value of DCE-MRI quantitatively predicting vascular invasion of rectal cancer
Authors: Dong Wan , Chen Anliang , Liu Yuhui , Song Qingwei , Xie Lizhi , Liu Ailian
Published: August 2023

Vascular invasion has been proved to be closely related to the poor prognosis of rectal cancer. The current gold standard for the diagnosis of rectal cancer vascular tumor thrombus is postoperative pathology. MRI is a common technology in evaluating malignant tumor. In this work, we explored the feasibility of DCE-MRI in quantitatively predicting vascular invasion of rectal cancer. Results showed that the Ktrans and Kep can differentiate the vascular invasion from normal status accurately. Therefore, DCE-MRI may serve as a feasible and non-invasive way in predicting vascular invasion of rectal cancer preoperatively, that is of great significance for clinical diagnosis.
Reduced field-of-view diffusion-weighted MRI improving diagnostic value in cervical cancer
Authors: Wang Huihui , Qiu Jianxing
Published: August 2023

This study was aimed to investigate the image quality and signal intensity (SI) of reduced field-of-view (r-FOV) DWI in patients with cervical cancer in comparison with full FOV (f-FOV) DWI. The subjective image quality, quantitative tumor conspicuity and quantitative normal tissue contrast were better for the r-FOV DWI images than for f-FOV DWI. The tumour diameters measured from the r-FOV DWI images experienced less bias than those from the f-FOV DWI. Those suggest that r-FOV DWI improving diagnostic value in cervical cancer than f-FOV DWI.
The Value of Clinical application of T2WI with CSAI - a deep learning constrained Compressed SENSE reconstruction on prostate cancer
Authors: Ding Xiaobo , Qiu Xiang , Wang Zhuo , Qiu Ying , Zhang Xu , Zhu Yi , Jiang Ke
Published: August 2023

Image quality of T2WI suffers from long scanning time. Compressed SENSE (C-SENSE) allow for Shorter scanning time and Ensuring good image quality，Image quality can be further optimized with CSAI . A total of 20 patients with prostate cancer (PC) underwent MRI including T2WI with SENSE-2（S2）and SENSE-4 （S4）、CS4 and CSAI4. SNR was significantly higher in CSAI4 than CS4 and S4. In comparison CNR between of S4、CS4 and CSAI4 of clinically insignificant PC, only CSAI4 had significant difference. CSAI4 improves the image quality and may contribute to increased diagnostic performance of tumor and clinicians’ confidence in the detection and diagnosis of prostate cancer.
Multifrequency MR elastography for the detection of Glypican 3-positive hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Wang Yihuan , Li Ruokun , Zhou Jiahao , Guo Jing , Sack Ingolf , Yan Fuhua
Published: August 2023

Glypican-3 (GPC3) expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is often associated with a poor prognosis. GPC3 is a promising target for tumor-specific immunotherapy in HCC. We investigated the diagnostic performance of viscoelastic properties quantified by tomoelastography, a multifrequency MR-elastography (MRE) technique, for the detection of GPC3-positive HCC. Preliminary results showed that reduced stiffness quantified by tomoelastography is a mechanical signature of positive GPC3 expression in HCC. Combining stiffness and serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level could be considered as a viable biomarker for detecting GPC3-positive HCC as well as for predicting the outcome of GPC3-targeted immunotherapy.
Predicting treatment response using intratumoral and peritumoral radiomics based on CE-MRI for patients with HCC treated with TACE
Authors: Zhao Ying , Liu Ailian , Yao Yu , Wen Han , Song Qingwei , Lin Tao , Li Xin , Guo Yan , Wu Tingfan
Published: August 2023

This work aimed at exploring the role of radiomics assessment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) intratumoral and peritumoral regions based on contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (CE-MRI) to predict treatment response to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in patients with HCC. The results showed that the radiomics approach based on intratumoral and peritumoral regions has potential to improve performance for response prediction using preoperative CE-MRI.
Robust fat saturation by combination of SPIR with gradient reversal for TSE at large FOV and coverage
Authors: Wu Zhigang , Zhang Yajing , Hu Xiuquan , Zhang Jing , Jiang Guangyu , Zeng Fei , Xu Xiaofang , Zhao Yan , Wang Jiazheng
Published: August 2023

Robust fat suppression remains essential in clinical MRI to improve tissue signal contrast, minimize fat-related artifacts, and enhance image quality. It’s still a challenge to suppress the fat signal when the FOV and coverage is large, especially for abdomen imaging, where uneven fat suppression become common owing to both B0 and B1 field inhomogeneity. We propose a new solution that combines the optimized gradient reversal technique and Spectral Presaturation with Inversion Recovery (SPIR) simultaneously to overcome these challenges. This framework allows to suppress the fat signal robustly in large FOV with whole liver and kidney coverage.
Comparison between image quality of 3D T1 GRE sequence with and without deep learning reconstruction at gadoxetic acid-enhanced liver MRI
Authors: Yoon Jeong Hee , Lee Joonsung , Bayram Ersin , Lee Jeong Min
Published: August 2023

Liver magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been widely performed for liver lesion detection and characterization. There have been attempts to improve the image quality of T1-weighted images at liver MRI. Recently, deep learning (DL)-based reconstruction gains attention as a tool for improving the image quality without substantial computational power or difficult sequence modification.
Quantitative Evaluation of Liver Function using Normalized Gadoxetic Acid Concentration in Hepatobiliary Phase
Authors: Eitoku Shoma , Fujiwara Yasuhiro , Mio Motohira
Published: August 2023

The purpose of this study was to clarify whether gadoxetic acid concentration in the hepatic focal area at hepatobiliary phase (CHep), normalized by dose (normalized CHep), could be used as an index for quantitative liver function assessment. In severe liver dysfunction, a moderate correlation was observed between gadoxetic acid concentration and dose. Normalized CHep with bias correction based on the dose of gadoxetic acid may be used as an index of liver function, especially in the stratification of severe liver dysfunction.
Multiband Accelerated IMPULSED Protocol for Breast Tumor Imaging
Authors: Ding Jie , Zhang Zhen , Wang Yishi , Yue Xiuzheng , Zhu Rongrong , Ha Ruoshui
Published: August 2023

The investigation of time dependent diffusion imaging techniques such as IMPULSED is emerging for clinical research since recently made available on 3T scanners. IMPULSED requires the acquisition of diffusion images at different diffusion times and diffusion weightings. In this study, we proposed to use Multiband to accelerate the data acquisition for IMPULSED and compared the ADC spectrum for two protocols. Our results showed the consistency in ADC calculation for the Multiband accelerated protocol with the result without using Multiband.
Diffusion and IVIM MR imaging-based virtual elastography for the differentiation between invasive ductal carcinoma and fibroadenoma
Authors: Liang Ting , Li Xianjun , Yang Jian
Published: August 2023

Preoperative accurate differential diagnosis of benign and malignant breast tumors is very important to avoid unnecessary surgical treatment. This study aims to evaluate the potential efficacy of the virtual elastography (vMRE) method in the differential diagnosis of IDC and FA, and help guide clinical management. Our results suggested that mean virtual stiffness obtained by this vMRE method can accurately distinguish the hardness difference between FA and IDC.
Apparent Diffusion Coefficient of Different Diffusion Times for Differentiation of Benign and Malignant Breast Tumors
Authors: Ding Jie , Wang Yishi , Zhang Zhen , Yue Xiuzheng , Zhu Rongrong , Ha Ruoshui
Published: August 2023

Some novel biomarkers has emerged from the fact that apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) depends strongly on the diffusion time, such as the rate of ADC change using two diffusion times for the differentiation of breast tumor types and a cell size modeling. In this study, we propose to use Multiband (MB) SENSE to accelerate the data acquisition of OGSE and PGSE sequences and compare the diagnostic value of ADC at different diffusion times for breast tumor. Our data showed superior diagnostic performance between benign and malignant breast lesions using ADC at a short diffusion time.
Magnetic resonance elastography imaging for the evaluation of MVI of T1 staging renal clear cell carcinoma preoperatively
Authors: Zhang Hanmei , Wen Daguang , Chen Jie , Wang Yi , Chen Yuntian , Bao Yige , Song Bin
Published: August 2023

This prospective study evaluated the performance of 3D magnetic resonance elastography imaging for predicting microvascular invasion(MVI) of T1 staging renal clear cell carcinoma. 80 consecutive patients were enrolled. The mean MRE stiffness value has significant difference between the tumor with MVI (5.4±0.6 Kpa) or without MVI (4.1±0.3 Kpa) (p<0.05). The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value, AUC of stiffness value to predict MVI were 100%, 75%, 63%, 96%, 0.87, respectively. 3D MRE imaging has promising diagnostic performance for T1 staging renal clear cell carcinoma MVI.
Can whole-tumor histogram based on zoomed EPI diffusion-weighted imaging help predict perineural invasion in rectal cancer?
Authors: Wan Lijuan , Zhang Hongmei , Shi Qinglei
Published: August 2023

Perineural invasion (PNI) is a strong prognostic indicator in rectal cancer. Timely and accurate assessment of PNI status can assist in making individualized treatment plans. Histogram features can reflect the heterogeneity of tumors with better reproducibility than higher-order texture features. The zoomed DWI can provide a higher-spatial-resolution with fewer artifacts and distortions. We aim to evaluate the ability of histogram parameters derived from zoomed DWI to identify patients with positive PNI. The results demonstrated that histogram parameters could be used for assessing PNI status in RC, and skewness achieved the highest AUC.
Evaluation of brain tumor and surrounding tissue activity using multi-pool CEST imaging on 3 Tesla scanner
Authors: Kanazawa Yuki , Harada Masafum , Miyoshi Mitsuharu , Matsumoto Yuki
Published: August 2023

We evaluated amide- and amine-CEST signal of brain tumors on a 3 Tesla MR scanner with conventional Z-spectrum and MTRasym analysis. Subjects were eight patients with brain tumor. There were significant differences between mean MTRasym values at 0.2 and 0.35 ppm offset frequencies (P < 0.05). Our findings was able to evaluate brain tumor characteristics with multi-pool analysis on the positive side of offset frequency on a 3 Tesla MRI scanner.
Accurate parameter estimation using scan-specific unsupervised deep learning for relaxometry and MR fingerprinting
Authors: Gao Mengze , Ye Huihui , Kim Tae , Zhang Zijing , So Seohee , Bilgic Berkin
Published: August 2023

We propose an unsupervised convolutional neural network (CNN) for relaxation parameter estimation. This network incorporates signal relaxation and Bloch simulations while taking advantage of residual learning and spatial relations across neighboring voxels. Quantification accuracy and robustness to noise is shown to be significantly improved compared to standard parameter estimation methods in numerical simulations and in vivo data for multi-echo T2 and T2* mapping. The combination of the proposed network with subspace modeling and MR fingerprinting (MRF) from highly undersampled data permits high quality T1 and T2 mapping.
Comparison of the image quality and ADC values on diffusion weighted imaging at both low and high b-values with gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging
Authors: Wan Shang , Wei Yi , Tang Hehan , Nie Lisha , Wei Xiaocheng , Song Bin
Published: August 2023

Gd-EOB-DTPA has been widely used in liver MR imaging for the evaluation of hepatic lesion, whereas, the long intervals between the dynamic enhanced imaging and hepatobiliary phase imaging usually influence patient throughput. Notably, the adjustment of diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) sequence’s scanning order from pre-contrast to post-contrast is crucial to overcome this limitation. However, few studies have investigated the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values that at low and high b values should be affected, respectively, thus, we aimed to prospectively determine whether DWI at both low and high b-values should be affected before and after gadoxetic acid-enhanced MR imaging.
k-Space Interpolation for Accelerated MRI Using Deep Generative Models
Authors: Cui Zhuo-Xu , Jia Sen , Qiu Zhilang , Zhu Qingyong , Liu Yuanyuan , Cheng Jing , Ying Leslie , Zhu Yanjie , Liang Dong
Published: August 2023

k-space deep learning (DL) is emerging as an alternative to the conventional image domain DL for accelerated MRI. Typically, DL requires training on large amounts of data, which is unaccessible in clinical. This paper proposes to present an untrained k-space deep generative model (DGM) to interpolate missing data. Specifically, missing data is interpolated by a carefully designed untrained generator, of which the output layer conforms the MR image multichannel prior, while the architecture of other layers implicitly captures k-space statistics priors. Furthermore, we prove that the proposed method guarantees enough accuracy bounds for interpolated data under commonly used sampling patterns.
Noise2Average: deep learning based denoising without high-SNR training data using iterative residual learning
Authors: Li Zihan , Bilgic Berkin , Li Ziyu , Ying Kui , Polimeni Jonathan , Huang Susie , Tian Qiyuan
Published: August 2023

The requirement for high-SNR reference data reduces the feasibility of supervised deep learning-based denoising. Noise2Noise addresses this challenge by learning to map one noisy image to another repetition of the noisy image but suffers from image blurring resulting from imperfect image alignment and intensity mismatch for empirical MRI data. A novel approach, Noise2Average, is proposed to improve Noise2Noise, which employs supervised residual learning to preserve image sharpness and transfer learning for subject-specific training. Noise2Average is demonstrated effective in denoising empirical Wave-CAIPI MPRAGE T1-weighted data (R=3×3-fold accelerated) and DTI data and outperforms Noise2Noise and state-of-the-art BM4D and AONLM denoising methods.
7T MRI prediction from 3T MRI via a high frequency generative adversarial network
Authors: Dai Yuxiang , Tang Wei , Chu Ying-Hua , Wang Chengyan , Wang He
Published: August 2023

Existing methods often fail to capture sufficient anatomical details which lead to unsatisfactory 7T MRI predictions, especially for 3D prediction. We proposed a 3D prediction model which introduces high frequency information learned from 7T images into generative adversarial network. Specifically, the prediction model can effectively produce 7T-like images with sharper edges, better contrast and higher SNR than 3T images.
Application-specific structural brain MRI harmonization
Authors: An Lijun , Chen Pansheng , Chen Jianzhong , Chen Christopher , Zhou Juan Helen , Yeo B.T. Thomas
Published: August 2023

We propose a flexible application-specific harmonization framework utilizing downstream application performance to regularize the harmonization procedure. Our approach can be integrated with various deep learning models. Here, we apply our approach to the recently proposed conditional variational autoencoder (cVAE) harmonization model. Three datasets (ADNI, N=1735; AIBL, N=495; MACC, N=557) collected from three different continents were used for evaluation. Our results suggest our approach (AppcVAE) compares favorably with ComBat (named for “combating batch effects when combining batches”) and cVAE for improving downstream application performance.
Real-time High-quality Multi-parametric 4D-MRI Using Deep Learning-based Motion Estimation from Ultra-undersampled Radial K-space
Authors: Xiao Haonan , Wong Yat Lam , Li Wen , Liu Chenyang , Zhi Shaohua , Liu Weiwei , Wang Weihu , Zhang Yibao , Wu Hao , Lee Ho-Fun Victor , Cheung Lai-Yin Andy , Chang Hing-Chiu Charles , Li Tian , Cai Jing
Published: August 2023

We have developed and validated a deep learning-based real-time high-quality (HQ) multi-parametric (Mp) 4D-MRI technique. A dual-supervised downsampling-invariant deformable registration (D3R) model was trained on retrospectively downsampled 4D-MRI with 100 radial spokes in the k-space. The deformations obtained from the downsampled 4D-MRI were applied to 3D-MRI to reconstruct HQ Mp 4D-MRI. The D3R model provides accurate and stable registration performance at up to 500 times downsampling, and the HQ Mp 4D-MRI shows significantly improved quality with sub-voxel level motion accuracy. This technique provides HQ Mp 4D-MRI within 500 ms and holds great potential in online tumor tracking in MR-guided radiotherapy.
In-vivo measurement of hepatic unsaturated lipid using J-difference-edited MRS.
Authors: Lin Dingyi , Cao Yang , Hsu Yi-Cheng , Li Hong , Zhou Jiaqiang , Zheng Fenping , Wang Min
Published: August 2023

Measurement of lipid composition in liver is of high importance. The J-difference-edited MRS allows detection of low-level overlapped metabolites, including hepatic unsaturated lipid. This study was to investigate the efficacy of J-editing on human hepatic unsaturated lipid, with different experimental setup. Multiple potential influencing factors such as breath control and voxel localization were parallelly compared. In-vivo hepatic MRS data was acquired in three healthy subjects. The statistical analysis of experimental variance and test re-test reliability demonstrates that MEGA-PRESS with respiratory-gating at lower level in liver allows consistent and robust in-vivo measurement of different human hepatic unsaturated lipid molecules.
A Shielding-free Ultra-low-field 0.055T Brain MRI Scanner for Accessible Healthcare
Authors: Wu Ed X. , Liu Yilong , Leong Alex T. L. , Zhao Yujiao , Xiao Linfang , Mak Henry K. F. , Anderson Tsang , Lau Gary K. K. , Leung Gilberto K. K.
Published: August 2023

In this study, we describe an ultra-low-field brain MRI scanner that operates using a standard AC power outlet and is low cost to build. Using a permanent 0.055 Tesla Samarium-cobalt magnet and deep learning for cancellation of electromagnetic interference, it requires neither magnetic nor radiofrequency shielding cages. We also successfully implement four standard clinical neuroimaging protocols (T1W, T2W, FLAIR like, and DWI) and demonstrate human brain imaging on this system. This proof-of-concept work will advance the development of a new class of MRI technologies to democratize MRI for low and middle income countries and increase MRI accessibility in healthcare.
Blockade of lymphatic drainage to deep cervical lymph nodes impacts CSF flow and brain morphometry
Authors: Koundal Sunil , Gursky Zachary , Chen Xinan , Lee Hedok , Santambrogio Laura , Kipnis Jonathan , Tannenbaum Allen , Benveniste Helene
Published: August 2023

The altered CNS fluid flow dynamics and homeostasis mechanisms in response to blockade of lymphatic drainage to deep cervical lymph nodes (dcLN) is poorly understood. We used multi-modality MRI and computational fluid dynamics approach to study the same in rats with electrocauterized afferent lymphatic vessels of dcLN. The brain morphometry of Cauterized-dcLN rats showed localized volume expansion in Pons, Hippocampus and Corpus-callosum, while glymphatic speed maps showed hyperdynamic CSF flow in ambient and quadrigeminal cisterns. These results clearly show that the blockade of CSF drainage to dcLN alters CNS fluid homeostasis/flow dynamics, long-term may result in waste accumulation and neurodegeneration.
Quantitative mapping of Gd-DOTA accumulation in mouse brain by MRI after intraperitoneal administration - Validation by mass spectroscopy.
Authors: Tessier Anthony , Ruze Anthony , Royer Emilien , Bernard Monique , Viola Angele , Perles-Barbacaru Teodora-Adriana
Published: August 2023

Maps of the contrast agent concentration over time in mouse brains upon intraperitoneal administration were obtained by a dynamic MRI technique. The mice had different degrees of contrast agent accumulation clearly distinguishable on the maps with a particular distribution resembling the pathways of the glymphatic system. The average brain concentration computed 2 hours post contrast agent administration correlates with the gadolinium dosage in the brain by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy proving that quantification is feasible although the signal analysis can be improved.
CEST and ZAP Measurements of the Abdominal Organs
Authors: Malis Vadim , Kungsamutr Jirach , Bae Won , Zhang Xiaowei , Kassai Yoshimori , Miyazaki Mitsue
Published: August 2023

Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) is a molecular imaging technique for specific exchange of hydroxy (-OH, ~1.0 ppm), amine (-NH2, ~2 ppm), and amide (-NH, ~3.5 ppm), whereas ZAP is overall exchange protons of relatively free exchange protons (T2,f) and restricted protons (T2,r) from a wide frequency range of +/– 100 kHz. Combining CEST and ZAP to measure qualitative values of abdominal organ is aiming to be established.
Fast Multi-slice Quasi-steady-state (QUASS) APT MRI: Preliminary Results from Brain Tumor Patients at 3 Tesla
Authors: Kim Hahnsung , Krishnamurthy Lisa , Hoang Kimberly , Hu Ranliang , Sun Phillip
Published: August 2023

The multi-slice CEST signal evolution was described by the spin-lock relaxation during saturation duration (Ts) and longitudinal relaxation during the relaxation delay time (Td) and post-label delay (PLD), from which the QUASS CEST was generalized to fast multi-slice acquisition. In addition, normal human subjects and tumor patients scans were performed to compare the conventional apparent and QUASS CEST measurements with different Ts, Td, and PLD. Bland-Altman analysis bias of the proposed QUASS CEST effects was much smaller than the PLD-corrected apparent CEST effects (0.03% vs. -0.54%), indicating the proposed fast multi-slice CEST imaging is robust and accurate.
Simulation of Spin-3/2 Quadrupole Nuclei Dynamics in Biological Environments for Arbitrary Pulse Sequences
Authors: Reichert Simon , Kleimaier Dennis , Schad Lothar
Published: August 2023

This work presents an open source simulation framework of spin-3/2 NMR dynamics for isotropic and anisotropic environments, and hard pulses. The flexible, modular structure provides a computationally efficient framework to investigate in detail MR signal characteristics using arbitrary pulse sequences. Comparison of simulated and measured data showed a good agreement for the TQTPPI sequence using 23Na. The simulation framework is available as open source on GitHub (https://github.com/SmnReichert/PhaseCycleSim).
Prediction of Total Knee Replacement using Vision Transformers
Authors: Zhang Chaojie , Rajamohan Haresh Rengaraj , Cho Kyunghyun , Chang Gregory , Deniz Cem
Published: August 2023

Vision transformers were used to predict total knee replacement within 9 years from magnetic resonance images. Inspired by MRNet, 2D slices of an MR image were encoded by a vision transformer and these encodings were aggregated to provide a single prediction outcome from a 3D MR volume. Our results suggest that the prediction performance of vision transformers was comparable with the models based on convolutional neural networks for the outcome prediction task. Moreover, training models with stochastic gradient descent optimizer provided a better performance compared with the Adam optimizer.
Influence of Spatial Resolution in T2* Maps of Intramyocardial Hemorrhage
Authors: Zhang Xinheng , Yang Hsin-Jung , Dharmakumar Rohan
Published: August 2023

The influence of spatial resolution on T2*-based characterization of hemorrhage within myocardial infarctions (MI) has not been investigated. We hypothesized that partial volume could play a critical role in the detection and quantification of hemorrhagic remnants. Ex-vivo pig hearts with 8-week old MI were imaged with multi-gradient echo sequences with various in-plane and through-plane spatial resolutions. Our findings show that optimal detection of hemorrhagic remnants with T2* MRI at 3T requires imaging voxels to be between 5 and 7 mm3.
MR imaging of stroke rats using CEST with an Average Saturation Efficiency Filter (ASEF)
Authors: Chung Julius , Jin Tao
Published: August 2023

Average Saturation Efficiency Filter (ASEF) is a fast and intuitive technique for achieving CEST imaging with improved sensitivity removing fast exchanges and semi-solid MT background with minimal loss to sensitivity. Our results in MCAO rodents showed that it can detect the ischemic lesion from CEST signal contrasts at 3.6, 2.6, and 2 ppm which may provide different metabolic-related information with higher sensitivity to 3-point measurement at 3.6 ppm and comparable contrast. Its low requirement on number of imaged signals also opens up possibilities for dynamic imaging or signal averaging.
Measures of reliability in high frequency longitudinal white matter multi-shell diffusion and inhomogeneous magnetization transfer database
Authors: Edde Manon , Theaud Guillaume , Dumont Matthieu , Théberge Antoine , Valcourt-Caron Alex , Magon Stefano , Descoteaux Maxime
Published: August 2023

Longitudinal imaging studies are widely used to capture and characterize progressive brain changes. However, evaluation of the reproducibility and the variation of measures in MRI is crucial to reliably detect or predict brain changes with quantitative MRI measures. Using the coefficient of variation and intraclass correlation, we evaluated the reproducibility of diffusion and myelin-based MRI measures from a multi-shell diffusion and inhomogeneous magnetization transfer MRI dataset of twenty healthy adults, each with five MRI acquisitions over six months. Moderate to high reproducibility of diffusion and myelin measures is observed within white matter tracks of interests.