Comparison of MRI with EMG to study muscle activity associated with dynamic plantar flexion

This study compared magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and surface electromyography (EMG) to evaluate the effect of knee angle upon plantar flexion activity in the triceps surae muscles [medial & lateral gastrocnemius (MG, LG) and the soleus (SOL)]. Two weight & height matched groups performed identical protocols, twelve (6M, 6F) in the MRI group, twelve (8M, 4F) in the EMG group. Subjects plantar flexed dynamically for 2 min at 25% of 1-repetition maximum voluntary contraction (1-RM). Exercise was performed with the knee extended (0 degrees flexion), flexed (90 degrees ), and partially flexed (45 degrees ). In the MRI group spin-echo images were acquired before and immediately following each exercise session. T(2) times, calculated at rest and after exercise by fitting the echoes to a monoexponential decay pattern with a least-squares algorithm, were compared with EMG data. In the EMG group a bipolar electrode was used to collect samples were from the MG, LG, SOL, and anterior tibialis (TA) during exercise at each knee angle, MRI also examined the peroneus (PER). At 0 degrees flexion MRI demonstrated a significant post-exercise T(2) increase in the MG (p < or = 0.001), LG (p < or = 0.001), and PER (p < or = 0.01), with no T(2) change in the SOL or TA. At 90 degrees flexion there was a significant T(2) increase in the SOL (p < or = 0.001) with no significant T(2) change in the MG, LG, PER, or TA. At 45 degrees T(2) increased significantly in the SOL (p < or = 0.001) and LG (p < or = 0.05), but not the MG, PER, or TA. EMG produced similar results with the exception that there was significant activity in the TA during the relaxation cycle of the 90 degrees protocol. We conclude that: 1) Soleus activity is measurable by MRI; and 2) MRI and EMG produce similar results from different physiological sources, and are therefore complementary tools for evaluating muscle activity.     

Spatial heterogeneity in the muscle functional MRI signal intensity time course: effect of exercise intensity

It has previously been observed that during isometric dorsiflexion exercise, the time course of T2-weighted signal intensity (SI) changes is spatially heterogeneous. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that this spatial heterogeneity would increase at higher contraction intensities. Eight subjects performed 90-s isometric dorsiflexion contractions at 30% and 60% of maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) while T2-weighted (repetition time/echo time=4000/35 ms) images were acquired. SI was measured before, during and after the contractions in regions of interest (ROIs) in the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle and the deep and superficial compartments of the tibialis anterior (D-TA and S-TA, respectively). For all ROIs at 30% MVC, SI changes were similar. The maximum postcontraction SI was greater than the SI during exercise. At 60% MVC, SI changes during contraction were greater in the S-TA than in the D-TA and EDL. For the EDL and D-TA, the maximum postcontraction SI was greater than those during exercise. For the S-TA, the maximum postcontraction change was greater than the changes at t=8, 20 and 56 s but not the end-exercise value. We conclude that spatial heterogeneity increases during more intense dorsiflexion contractions, possibly reflecting regional differences in perfusion or neural activation of the muscle.     

Muscle spindles are concentrated in the superior vocalis subcompartment of the human thyroarytenoid muscle

It is hypothesized that different parts of the thyroarytenoid muscle (TA) are functionally specialized. Specifically, the TA is divided into a lateral muscularis compartment and a medial vocalis compartment. This study examined the distribution of muscle spindles throughout the human TA as an indicator of these functional differences. Histological cross-sections from the anterior, middle, and posterior regions of five human membranous vocal folds were examined for the number and location of muscle spindles. There was an average of 6.1 muscle spindles in sections from each region with no significant variation between the different regions (p < .05). However, in sections from all three regions, the muscle spindles were always found to be concentrated in the superior medial quadrant of the TA (mean 85.9%, p < .01). The inferior medial, superior lateral, and inferior lateral quadrants of the TA contained 11.96%, 2.17%, and 0%, respectively, of the total muscle spindles. Within the superior medial quadrant, most of the muscle spindles were localized in the most superficial part of the muscle.The results of this study demonstrate that the majority of TA muscle spindlesare concentrated in its superior medial quadrant, an area we have termed the superior vocalis subcompartment (SC. This finding suggests that the superior vocalis SC is functionally distinct from the remainder of the TA. It is hypothesized that tension in the superior vocalis SC can be controlled independently from the remainder of the TA, and this capability is used to effect the biomechanics of vocal fold vibration during phonation.     

Computational integral imaging reconstruction method of 3D images using pixel-to-pixel mapping and image interpolation

In this paper, we propose a novel computational integral imaging reconstruction (CIIR) method to improve the visual quality of the reconstructed images using a pixel-to-pixel mapping and an interpolation technique. Since an elemental image is magnified inversely through the corresponding pinhole and mapped on the reconstruction output plane based on pinhole-array model in the conventional CIIR method, the visual quality of reconstructed output image (ROI) degrades due to the interference problem between adjacent pixels during the superposition of the magnified elemental images. To avoid this problem, the proposed CIIR method generates dot-pattern ROIs using a pixel-to-pixel mapping and substitutes interpolated values for the empty pixels within the dot-pattern ROIs using an interpolation technique. The interpolated ROIs provides a much improved visual quality compared with the conventional method because of the exact regeneration of pixel positions sampled in the pickup process without interference between pixels. Moreover, it can enable us to reduce a computational cost by eliminating the magnification process used in the conventional CIIR. To confirm the feasibility of the proposed system, some experiments are carried out and the results are presented.     

Changes in orcine muscle water characteristics during growth--an in vitro low-field NMR relaxation study

This study investigates the effects of developmental stage and muscle type on the mobility and distribution of water within skeletal muscles, using low-field (1)H-NMR transverse relaxation measurements in vitro on four different porcine muscles (M. longissimus dorsi, M. semitendinosus, M. biceps femoris, M. vastus intermedius) from a total of 48 pigs slaughtered at various weight classes between 25 kg and 150 kg. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed effects of both slaughter weight and muscle type on the transverse relaxation decay. Independent of developmental stage and muscle type, distributed exponential analysis of the NMR T(2) relaxation data imparted the existence of three distinct water populations, T(2b), T(21), and T(22), with relaxation times of approximately 1-10, 45-120, and 200-500 ms, respectively. The most profound change during muscle growth was a shift toward faster relaxation in the intermediate time constant, T(21). It decreased by approx. 24% in all four muscle types during the period from 25 to 150 kg live weight. Determination of dry matter, fat, and protein content in the muscles showed that the changes in relaxation time of the intermediate time constant, T(21), during growth should be ascribed mainly to a change in protein content, as the protein content explained 77% of the variation in the T(21) time constant. Partial least squares (PLS) regression revealed validated correlations in the region of 0.58 to 0.77 between NMR transverse relaxation data and muscle development for all the four muscle types, which indicates that NMR relaxation measurements may be used in the prediction of muscle developmental stage.     

Oxygen-induced changes in longitudinal relaxation times in skeletal muscle

The objective was to measure the effect of 100% oxygen inhalation on T1 relaxation times in skeletal muscle. Healthy volunteers were scanned using three different MRI protocols while breathing medical air and 100% oxygen. Measurements of T1 were made from regions of interest (ROIs) within various skeletal muscle groups. Dynamic data of subjects breathing a sequence of air-oxygen-air allowed the calculation of characteristic wash-in and -out times for dissolved oxygen in muscle. Contrary to previous findings, a statistically significant decrease in T1 in skeletal muscle was observed due to oxygen inhalation. We report approximate baseline characteristic values for the response of skeletal muscle to oxygen inhalation. This measurement may provide new biomarkers for evaluation of oxygen delivery and consumption in normal and diseased skeletal muscle.     

用于SAR估计的基于U-Net网络的快速膝关节模型重建

膝关节高场磁共振成像（MRI）时，射频功率沉积（SAR）是一个关键的安全指标.目前对于局部SAR的准确估计只能通过电磁仿真实现，这就要求得到每一个个体的膝关节模型.本文提出一种针对低场磁共振图像的基于卷积神经网络的分割方法，以实现膝关节磁共振图像的快速重建.数据集来自于矢位T₁加权自旋回波图像，将膝关节组织按照"肌肉-脂肪-骨骼"模型进行简化，除脂肪与骨骼之外的其他组织归类为肌肉.采用一种全卷积的神经网络，即U-Net进行逐层的图像分割，卷积层数为4，训练采用交叉熵函数.本文对图像的自动分割结果与手动标注结果进行了定量的比较.此外，采用3 T正交鸟笼线圈进行了SAR仿真，结果验证了组织简化对于SAR估计的可行性，并且所提方法构建的模型可以得到较为精准的局部SAR分布.     

Biexponential characterization of prostate tissue water diffusion decay curves over an extended b-factor range

Detailed measurements of water diffusion within the prostate over an extended b-factor range were performed to assess whether the standard assumption of monoexponential signal decay is appropriate in this organ. From nine men undergoing prostate MR staging examinations at 1.5 T, a single 10-mm-thick axial slice was scanned with a line scan diffusion imaging sequence in which 14 equally spaced b factors from 5 to 3,500 s/mm(2) were sampled along three orthogonal diffusion sensitization directions in 6 min. Due to the combination of long scan time and limited volume coverage associated with the multi-b-factor, multidirectional sampling, the slice was chosen online from the available T2-weighted axial images with the specific goal of enabling the sampling of presumed noncancerous regions of interest (ROIs) within the central gland (CG) and peripheral zone (PZ). Histology from prescan biopsy (n=9) and postsurgical resection (n=4) was subsequently employed to help confirm that the ROIs sampled were noncancerous. The CG ROIs were characterized from the T2-weighted images as primarily mixtures of glandular and stromal benign prostatic hyperplasia, which is prevalent in this population. The water signal decays with b factor from all ROIs were clearly non-monoexponential and better served with bi- vs. monoexponential fits, as tested using chi(2)-based F test analyses. Fits to biexponential decay functions yielded intersubject fast diffusion component fractions in the order of 0.73+/-0.08 for both CG and PZ ROIs, fast diffusion coefficients of 2.68+/-0.39 and 2.52+/-0.38 microm(2)/ms and slow diffusion coefficients of 0.44+/-0.16 and 0.23+/-0.16 um(2)/ms for CG and PZ ROIs, respectively. The difference between the slow diffusion coefficients within CG and PZ was statistically significant as assessed with a Mann-Whitney nonparametric test (P<.05). We conclude that a monoexponential model for water diffusion decay in prostate tissue is inadequate when a large range of b factors is sampled and that biexponential analyses are better suited for characterizing prostate diffusion decay curves.     

Are hepatic and muscle T2 values different at 0.5 and 1.5 Tesla?

In an effort to determine whether T2 values of liver and muscle change with increasing field strength, 144 abdominal MR examinations were retrospectively evaluated. These patients were evaluated with a dual echo T2-weighted spin-echo sequence. Eighty-two of the examinations were performed at 0.5 Tesla and 72 at 1.5 Tesla (T). Eleven of the patients were evaluated with both MR systems with the same sequences. T2 values were also obtained from a Fe NH4(SO4)2 12H2O phantom. The T2 values of liver decreased from 57.8 +/- 11.3 at 0.5 T to 43.7 +/- 8.3 at 1.5 T. The T2 values of muscle decreased from 44.2 +/- 9 at 0.5 T to 35.4 +/- 7.2 at 1.5 T. Patients who were examined on both systems also demonstrated a decrease in both liver and muscle T2 values. For concentrations in the range of hepatic T2's, the phantom demonstrated a decrease in T2 values from 0.5 to 1.5 T ranging from 20.3 to 23.4%. All the T2 changes were statistically significant (p less than .05). The findings suggest that T2 values may depend on field strength, or may vary due to other hardware-related differences.     

Skeletal muscle lymphoma: MRI evaluation.

The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features of two cases of malignant lymphoproliferative disease involving skeletal muscle are presented. In both cases involved muscles were quantitatively and subjectively hypointense to fat on T1-weighted spin echo images, hypointense or isointense on T2-weighted spin echo images, and hyperintense on short tau inversion recovery (STIR) images. The findings suggest that lymphoproliferative disease should be considered as an etiology of a skeletal muscle lesion that is hypointense or isointense to fat on T2-weighted spin echo magnetic resonance images.     

Segment-based region of interest generation for pedestrian detection in far-infrared images

We present a region of interest (ROI) generation method specialized for nighttime pedestrian detection using far-infrared (FIR) images. Because pedestrians typically appear brighter than background in FIR images, previous research efforts primarily attempted to extract ROIs based on the intensity threshold. However this approach has problems resulting from the intensity variances of pedestrians due to their clothing and, especially in urban scenarios, and other heat sources that emit more heat than the pedestrians. In this paper, we propose a novel ROI generation method that is based on combining image segments instead of using the intensity threshold. In order to minimize dependence on brightness, we utilize the low-frequency characteristics of FIR images. As a result, our proposed method generates a small number of ROIs at an acceptable miss rate and the generated ROIs provide advantages for classification because the pedestrians are satisfactorily arranged within a bounding box. Experiments conducted indicate that our proposed method performs reliably in urban scenarios.     

Comparison of automated and visual texture analysis in MRI: characterization of normal and diseased skeletal muscle

Automated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) texture analysis was compared with visual MRI analysis for the diagnosis of skeletal muscle dystrophy in 14 healthy and 17 diseased subjects. MRI texture analysis was performed on 8 muscle regions of interest (ROI) using four statistical methods (histogram, co-occurrence matrix, gradient matrix, runlength matrix) and one structural (mathematical morphology) method. Nine senior radiologists assessed full leg transverse slice images and proposed a diagnosis. The 59 extracted texture parameters for each ROI were statistically analyzed by Correspondence Factorial Analysis. Non-parametric tests were used to compare diagnoses based on automated texture analysis and visual analysis. Texture analysis methods discriminated between healthy volunteers and patients with a sensitivity of 70%, and a specificity of 86%. Comparison with visual analysis of MR images suggests that texture analysis can provide useful information contributing to the diagnosis of skeletal muscle disease.     

Robust pedestrian detection in thermal infrared imagery using the wavelet transform

A novel and robust pedestrian detection method in thermal infrared images based on the double-density dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DD-DT CWT) and wavelet entropy is presented in this paper. The regions of interest (ROIs) are located first making use of high brightness property of the pedestrian pixels caused by the self-emission of the pedestrians related to the Planck’s law. The candidate ROIs are then decomposed by DD-DT CWT and the wavelet entropy features are extracted from the high frequency subbands. The true pedestrian regions are finally classified and recognized using the support vector machine (SVM) classifier. Comparisons between our approach and traditional approaches are presented and experimental results using several thermal infrared image databases show the proposed scheme to be very promising.     

激光显示中光学系统研究

为了满足机械转镜扫描要求(转镜转速每分钟不少于3万转)及光束与水平信号的行场同步要求，提出采用面阵空间光调制器及多像素并行扫描方式。采用“面阵空间光调制器”对激光束进行选通和光强调制，使覆盖多像素的激光束在高速扫过面阵空间光调制器时，光强按视频图像的强弱进行调制，从而形成激光视频图像。由于采用了多像素并行扫描、新型二维扫描转镜和积分器光路，扫描速度大大降低，由每分钟几万转降低到3000转，解决了扫描式激光显示的技术瓶颈和激光干涉条纹问题，获得了很好的显示效果。     

An automated image-processing strategy to analyze dynamic arterial spin labeling perfusion studies. Application to human skeletal muscle under stress

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion measurements allow the follow-up of muscle perfusion with high temporal resolution during a stress test. Automated image processing is proposed to estimate perfusion maps from ASL images. It is based on two successive analyses: at first, automated rejection of the image pairs between which a large displacement is detected is performed, followed by factor analysis of the dynamic data and cluster analysis to classify pixels with large signal variation characteristic of vessels. Then, after masking these "vascular" pixels, factor analysis and cluster analysis are further applied to separate the different muscles between low or high perfusion increase, yielding a functional map of the leg. Data from 10 subjects (five normal volunteers and five elite sportsmen) had been analyzed. Resulting time perfusion curves from a region of interest (ROI) in active muscles show a good accordance whether extracted with automated processing or with manual processing. This method of functional segmentation allows automated suppression of vessels and fast visualization of muscles with high, medium or low perfusion, without any a priori knowledge.     

Utilization of the nephrectomized mouse for determining threshold effects of MRI contrast agents

The tissue concentration of an extravascularly distributed MRI contrast agent required to achieve a 20% change in the MRI signal intensity (SI) of skeletal muscle was determined using radiolabeled gadoteridol administered to nephrectomized mice. This minimal change in the quantified SI was reliably detected qualitatively in the MR muscle images. MR images of muscle were acquired following each intravenous injection of six sequential doses of 0.8 micromol of 153Gd-labeled gadoteridol. A 2.0 T imaging spectrometer and a T1-weighted spin-echo pulse sequence were used to acquire the MR images. After imaging, the injected 153Gd in muscle was measured, and the 153Gd assay results were used to determine the gadoteridol concentration in muscle following each injection. The muscle concentrations of gadoteridol were then correlated to the quantified enhanced MR SI of muscle. Using the 20% factor, it was concluded that the amount of gadoteridol necessary to achieve a reliable change in the SI of muscle was 33+/-10 nmol/g-skeletal muscle.     

Medial surface dynamics of an in vivo canine vocal fold during phonation

Quantitative measurement of the medial surface dynamics of the vocal folds is important for understanding how sound is generated within the larynx. Building upon previous excised hemilarynx studies, the present study extended the hemilarynx methodology to the in vivo canine larynx. Through use of an in vivo model, the medial surface dynamics of the vocal fold were examined as a function of active thyroarytenoid muscle contraction. Data were collected using high-speed digital imaging at a sampling frequency of 2000 Hz, and a spatial resolution of 1024 x 1024 pixels. Chest-like and fry-like vibrations were observed, but could not be distinguished based on the input stimulation current to the recurrent laryngeal nerve. The subglottal pressure did distinguish the registers, as did an estimate of the thyroarytenoid muscle activity. Upon quantification of the three-dimensional motion, the method of Empirical Eigenfunctions was used to extract the underlying modes of vibration, and to investigate mechanisms of sustained oscillation. Results were compared with previous findings from excised larynx experiments and theoretical models.     

Multifocus image fusion scheme using focused region detection and multiresolution

To solve the fusion problem of the multifocus images of the same scene, a novel algorithm based on focused region detection and multiresolution is proposed. In order to integrate the advantages of spatial domain-based fusion methods and transformed domain-based fusion methods, we use a technique of focused region detection and a new fusion method of multiscale transform (MST) to guide pixel combination. Firstly, the initial fused image is acquired with a novel multiresolution image fusion method. The pixels of the original images, which are similar to the corresponding initial fused image pixels, are considered to be located in the sharply focused regions. By this method, the initial focused regions can be determined, and the techniques of morphological opening and closing are employed for post-processing. Then the pixels within the focused regions in each source image are selected as the pixels of the fused image; meanwhile, the initial fused image pixels which are located at the focused border regions are retained as the pixels of the final fused image. The fused image is then obtained. The experimental results show that the proposed fusion approach is effective and performs better in fusing multi-focus images than some current methods.     

Observation of rat hind limb skeletal muscle during arterial occlusion and reperfusion by 31P MRS and 1H MRI

31P NMR spectra and 1H MR T1- and T2-weighted spin-echo images were concurrently observed in rat hind limb during arterial occlusion and following reperfusion. With arterial occlusion, phosphocreatine level decreased and inorganic phosphate (Pi) level increased in 31P NMR spectra. Intracellular pH's dropped as a function of time. Beta-ATP started to decrease in three hours. In six hours after the occlusion, any peaks other than Pi were scarcely detected. The signal intensities in the 1H MR images increased homogeneously in both T1- and T2-weighted conditions, but the changes were more profound with T2-weighted images. After the release of the arterial occlusion, the 31P NMR spectra recovered to the preischemic state in several hours. The 1H MR images during reperfusion showed characteristic heterogenous pattern. The signal intensities in the anterior tibial muscle and the gastrocnemius muscle remained high in T1-weighted condition and the intensities further increased in T2-weighted condition, while those in other parts returned to the preischemic level. These changes were found to be irreversible even 12 hr after the release. The high signal intensities suggested the increase of water in the extracellular compartment induced by so-called reperfusion injury. Multinuclear analysis using in vivo NMR was valuable to consecutively detect time-dependent and location-specific response in skeletal muscle during ischemia and reperfusion.     

Evaluation of atlas-based segmentation of hippocampi in healthy humans

Introduction and aim

Region of interest (ROI)-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data analysis relies on extracting signals from a specific area which is presumed to be involved in the brain activity being studied. The hippocampus is of interest in many functional connectivity studies for example in epilepsy as it plays an important role in epileptogenesis. In this context, ROI may be defined using different techniques. Our study aims at evaluating the spatial correspondence of hippocampal ROIs obtained using three brain atlases with hippocampal ROI obtained using an automatic segmentation algorithm dedicated to the hippocampus.

Material and methods

High-resolution volumetric T1-weighted MR images of 18 healthy volunteers (five females) were acquired on a 3T scanner. Individual ROIs for both hippocampi of each subject were segmented from the MR images using an automatic hippocampus and amygdala segmentation software called SACHA providing the gold standard ROI for comparison with the atlas-derived results. For each subject, hippocampal ROIs were also obtained using three brain atlases: PickAtlas available as a commonly used software toolbox; automated anatomical labeling (AAL) atlas included as a subset of ROI into PickAtlas toolbox and a frequency-based brain atlas by Hammers et al. The levels of agreement between the SACHA results and those obtained using the atlases were assessed based on quantitative indices measuring volume differences and spatial overlap. The comparison was performed in standard Montreal Neurological Institute space, the registration being obtained with SPM5 (http://www.fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk/spm/).

Results

The mean volumetric error across all subjects was 73% for hippocampal ROIs derived from AAL atlas; 20% in case of ROIs derived from the Hammers atlas and 107% for ROIs derived from PickAtlas. The mean false-positive and false-negative classification rates were 60% and 10% respectively for the AAL atlas; 16% and 32% for the Hammers atlas and 6% and 72% for the PickAtlas.

Conclusion

Though atlas-based ROI definition may be convenient, the resulting ROIs may be poor representations of the hippocampus in some studies critical to under- or oversampling. Performance of the AAL atlas was inferior to that of the Hammers atlas. Hippocampal ROIs derived from PickAtlas are highly significantly smaller, and this results in the worst performance out of three atlases. It is advisable that the defined ROIs should be verified with knowledge of neuroanatomy before using it for further data analysis.