3D-snapshot flash NMR imaging of the human heart

SNAPSHOT-FLASH is a recently developed, ultrafast imaging technique, based on conventional FLASH imaging. The application of this new variant to 3D imaging allows the acquisition of a 128 x 128 x 32 data set in 12.5 seconds without triggering, or for cardiac imaging with gating within 32 heartbeats. Compared to standard 3D-FLASH this is 128 times faster, because triggering is only required when the 3D phase-encoding gradient is incremented. The method depicts for the first time fast three-dimensional views of the human heart without motional artifacts. The images are spin-density weighted. Using suitable prepulses any desired T1- or T2-contrast may be achieved. The generation of 3D movies is possible without an increase of the total scan time.     

FLASH imaging: rapid NMR imaging using low flip-angle pulses. 1986

A new method for rapid NMR imaging dubbed FLASH (fast low-angle shot) imaging is described which, for example, allows measuring times of the order of 1 s (64 × 128 pixel resolution) or 6 s (256 × 256 pixels). The technique takes advantage of excitation pukes with small hip angles eliminating the need of waiting periods in between successive experiments. It is based on the acquisition of the free induction decay in the form of a gradient echo generated by reversal of the read gradient. The entire imaging time is only given by the number of projections desired times the duration of slice selection and data acquisition. The method results in about a 100-fold reduction in measuring time without sacrificing spatial resolution. Further advantages are an optimized signal-to-noise ratio, the applicability of commercial gradient systems, and the deposition of extremely low rf power. FLASH imaging is demonstrated on phantoms, animals, and human extremities using a 2.3 T 40 cm bore magnet system. ¹H NMR images are obtained with variable relaxation time contrasts and without motional artifacts.     

Fast and quiet MRI using a swept radiofrequency

A novel fast and quiet method of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is introduced which creates new opportunities for imaging in medicine and materials science. The method is called SWIFT, sweep imaging with Fourier transformation. In SWIFT, time-domain signals are acquired in a time-shared manner during a swept radiofrequency excitation of the nuclear spins. With negligible time between excitation and signal acquisition, new possibilities exist for imaging objects consisting of spins with extremely fast transverse relaxation rates, such as macromolecules, semi-solids, and quadrupolar nuclei. The field gradient used for spatial-encoding is not pulsed on and off, but rather is stepped in orientation in an incremental manner, which results in low acoustic noise. This unique acquisition method is expected to be relatively insensitive to sample motion, which is important for imaging live objects. Additionally, the frequency-swept excitation distributes the signal energy in time and thus dynamic range requirements for proper signal digitization are reduced compared with conventional MRI. For demonstration, images of a plastic object and cortical bone are shown.     

基于Walsh-Hadamard变换的单像素遥感成像

本文提出了基于Walsh-Hadamard变换的单像素成像方案, 并从理论分析、模拟仿真和实验验证三方面分别验证了该方案的可行性. 实验上实现了350-900 nm波段对 距离500 m和5000 m自然目标的128×128 像素成像, 成像速度0.5帧/秒. 研究并讨论了单像素相机方案与计算量子成像方案的差异与共性, 在此基础上分析了基于Walsh-Hadamard变换的单像素成像方案的优势与局限性. 研究表明本方案同时适用于单像素相机和计算量子成像. 由于单像素成像适用于应用在如红外热成像、微波成像等波段, 因此在阵列探测器灵敏度或工艺达不到要求时存在优势. 本文所提出的方案使得单像素成像技术向实际应用迈进了一步.     

Luminescence imaging for inline characterisation in silicon photovoltaics

Luminescence imaging is a very rapid technique for the characterisation of silicon samples. Megapixel luminescence images on silicon bricks, unprocessed wafers, partially processed wafers and fully processed cells can be captured with acquisition times of typically a few seconds or less than one second. A number of specific luminescence imaging applications have been developed over the last three years, allowing quantitative spatial information to be gained about a variety of crucial material and device parameters. This paper reviews some of the intriguing possibilities for inline monitoring in PV production at an early stage of production that result from the above mentioned short measurement times. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

基于同时多层激发和并行成像的心脏磁共振电影成像

磁共振成像（MRI）无创无害、对比度多、可以任意剖面成像的特点特别适合用于心脏成像,却因扫描时间长限制了其在临床上的应用.为了解决心脏磁共振电影成像屏气扫描时间过长的问题,该文提出了一种基于同时多层激发的多倍加速心脏磁共振电影成像及其影像重建的方法,该方法将相位调制多层激发（CAIPIRINHA）技术与并行加速（PPA）技术相结合,运用到分段采集心脏电影成像序列中,实现了在相位编码方向和选层方向的四倍加速,并使用改进的SENSE/GRAPPA算法对图像进行重建.分别在水模以及人体上进行了实验,将加速序列图像与不加速序列图像进行对比,结果验证了重建算法的有效性,表明该方法可以在保障图像质量以及准确测量心脏功能的前提下成倍节省扫描时间.     

四光束剪切相干成像目标重构算法研究

针对传统剪切光束成像技术的准实时性问题,提出用口字形排布的四束光代替传统L形三束剪切光照射目标,研究了四光束剪切相干成像目标重构算法.只需单次测量就能同时重构出四幅目标图像,减少了用于降低散斑噪声、获取高质量图像所需的测量次数,同时大大减少了多组发射时的光束切换次数,提高了成像效率.在算法实现中,通过最小二乘法恢复出四组波前相位,利用散斑幅值的简单代数运算恢复波前幅值,从而重构出目标图像.仿真结果表明,与传统方法相比,在图像质量相同的前提下,本文方法所需的数据采集时间减少了至少1/2,不但提高了目标重构效率,还可为远程运动目标的成像识别提供更好的手段.     

Truncation artifact reduction in spectroscopic imaging using a dual-density spiral k-space trajectory

Truncation artifacts arise in magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) of the human brain due to limited coverage of k-space necessitated by low SNR of metabolite signal and limited scanning time. In proton MRSI of the head, intense extra-cranial lipid signals “bleed” into brain regions, thereby contaminating signals of metabolites therein. This work presents a data acquisition strategy for reducing truncation artifact based on extended k-space coverage achieved with a dual-SNR strategy. Using the fact that the SNR in k-space increases monotonically with sampling density, dual-SNR is achieved in an efficient manner with a dual-density spiral k-space trajectory that permits a smooth transition from high density to low density. The technique is demonstrated to be effective in reducing “bleeding” of extra-cranial lipid signals while preserving the SNR of metabolites in the brain.     

Improved simultaneous multislice magnetic resonance imaging using total variation regularization

Controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration(CAIPIRINHA) for simultaneous multislice imaging has been proposed recently, which combines multiband excitation and phase cycling techniques to reduce scan time and improve subsequent imaging reconstruction. In this work, the total variation(TV) regularization method is used to further improve CAIPIRINHA. The TV regularization uses an edge-preserving prior, which establishes a relationship between neighboring pixels for image reconstruction. It reduces artifacts and suppresses noise amplification simultaneously.The results are presented with a standard eight-channel head coil with an acceleration factor of 4, where the TV-regularized CAIPIRINHA generates an improved reconstruction as compared with a typical nonregularized CAIPIRINHA.     

Progressive EPR imaging with adaptive projection acquisition

Continuous wave electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI) of living biological systems requires rapid acquisition and visualization of free radical images. In the commonly used multiple-stage back-projection image reconstruction algorithm, the EPR image cannot be reconstructed until a complete set of projections is collected. If the data acquisition is incomplete, the previously acquired incomplete data set is no longer useful. In this work, a 3-dimensional progressive EPRI technique was implemented based on inverse Radon transform in which a 3-dimensional EPR image is acquired and reconstructed gradually from low resolution to high resolution. An adaptive data acquisition strategy is proposed to determine the significance of projections and acquire them in an order from the most significant to the least significant. The image acquisition can be terminated at any time if further collection of projections does not improve the image resolution distinctly, providing flexibility to trade image quality with imaging time. The progressive imaging technique was validated using computer simulations as well as imaging experiments. The adaptive acquisition uses 50-70% less projections as compared to the regular acquisition. In conclusion, adaptive data acquisition with progressive image reconstruction should be very useful for the accelerated acquisition and visualization of free radical distribution.     

Development and testing of a CW-EPR apparatus for imaging of short-lifetime nitroxyl radicals in mouse head

This article describes a method for reducing the acquisition time in three-dimensional (3D) continuous-wave electron paramagnetic resonance (CW-EPR) imaging. To visualize nitroxyl spin probes, which have a short lifetime in living organisms, the acquisition time for a data set of spectral projections should be shorter than the lifetime of the spin probes. To decrease the total time required for data acquisition, the duration of magnetic field scanning was reduced to 0.5 s. Moreover, the number of projections was decreased by using the concept of a uniform distribution. To demonstrate this faster data acquisition, two kinds of nitroxyl radicals with different decay rates were measured in mice. 3D EPR imaging of 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-d₁₇-1-¹⁵N-1-oxyl in mouse head was successfully carried out. 3D EPR imaging of nitroxyl spin probes with a half-life of a few minutes was achieved for the first time in live animals.     

A software channel compression technique for faster reconstruction with many channels

In magnetic resonance imaging, highly parallel imaging using coil arrays with a large number of elements is an area of growing interest. With increasing channel numbers for parallel acquisition, the increased reconstruction time and extensive computer memory requirements have become significant concerns. In this work, principal component analysis (PCA) is used to develop a channel compression technique. This technique efficiently reduces the size of parallel imaging data acquired from a multichannel coil array, thereby significantly reducing the reconstruction time and computer memory requirement without undermining the benefits of multichannel coil arrays. Clinical data collected with a 32-channel cardiac coil are used in all of the experiments. The performance of the proposed method on parallel, partially acquired data, as well as fully acquired data, was evaluated. Experimental results show that the proposed method dramatically reduces the processing time without considerable degradation in the quality of reconstructed images. It is also demonstrated that this PCA technique can be used to perform intensity correction in parallel imaging applications.     

Simple data acquisition method for multi-dimensional EPR spectral-spatial imaging using a combination of constant-time and projection-reconstruction modalities

A combination of the constant-time spectral-spatial imaging (CTSSI) modality and projection-reconstruction modality was tested to simplify data acquisition for multi-dimensional CW EPR spectral-spatial imaging. In this method, 3D spectral-spatial image data were obtained by simple repetition of conventional 2D CW imaging process, except that the field gradient amplitude was incremented in constant steps in each repetition. The data collection scheme was no different from the conventional CW imaging system for spectral-spatial data acquisition. No special equipment and/or rewriting of existing software were required. The data acquisition process for multi-dimensional spectral-spatial imaging is consequently simplified. There is also no “missing-angle” issue because the CTSSI modality was employed to reconstruct 2D spectral-spatial images. Extra reconstruction processes to obtain higher spatial dimensions were performed using a conventional projection-reconstruction modality. This data acquisition technique can be applied to any conventional CW EPR (spatial) imaging system for multi-dimensional spectral-spatial imaging.     

基于AFI的快速发射场B1+成像方法

该文提出了一种基于实际翻转角成像(Actual Flip-angle Imaging,AFI)的快速发射场测量方法(Fast AFI,FAFI),将多次激发平面回波成像(Multi-shot Echo Planar Imaging,Multi-shot EPI)的采集方式运用于AFI发射场(B_1~+)测量中,充分利用AFI序列中采集的等待时间,高倍数加速了水模和人体头部、腹部及盆腔的发射场测量.该文在水模和人体(n=16)实验中,验证了采用FAFI序列得到的B_1~+测量结果与AFI结果的一致性.FAFI序列大幅加速了发射场测量,为实现动态B_1~+匀场(B_1~+shimming)和快速局部激发提供了高效的发射场测量方法.     

Multifocus confocal Raman microspectroscopy for fast multimode vibrational imaging of living cells

We have developed a multifocus confocal Raman microspectroscopic system for the fast multimode vibrational imaging of living cells. It consists of an inverted microscope equipped with a microlens array, a pinhole array, a fiber bundle, and a multichannel Raman spectrometer. Forty-eight Raman spectra from 48 foci under the microscope are simultaneously obtained by using multifocus excitation and image-compression techniques. The multifocus confocal configuration suppresses the background generated from the cover glass and the cell culturing medium so that high-contrast images are obtainable with a short accumulation time. The system enables us to obtain multimode (10 different vibrational modes) vibrational images of living cells in tens of seconds with only 1 mW laser power at one focal point. This image acquisition time is more than 10 times faster than that in conventional single-focus Raman microspectroscopy.     

Dynamic photoluminescence lifetime imaging for the characterisation of silicon wafers

We present a fast and calibration‐free carrier lifetime imaging technique based on photoluminescence (PL) measurements using an InGaAs camera for the examination of crystalline silicon wafers. The carrier lifetime is determined from the time dependent luminescence emission after optical excitation. A ratio, including four PL images acquired at different times during the modulated excitation, is calculated and found to depend only on the camera integration time and the effective carrier lifetime. Therefore, the carrier lifetime is unambiguously determined by this ratio without knowing any additional wafer parameter. We demonstrate the applicability of the dynamic PL technique to multicrystalline silicon wafers. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Mapping Brain Metabolites Using a Double Echo-Filter Metabolite Imaging (DEFMI) Technique

A double echo-filter metabolite imaging (DEFMI) technique was developed for spatial mapping of low-concentration metabolites in the human brain. This imaging technique simultaneously acquires two images from two individual metabolites, respectively, using conventional imaging acquisition. It provides (i) efficient water and lipid suppressions, (ii) the capability of collecting high-resolution metabolite images within a short time and creating a ratio image from two interesting metabolites within a single experiment, and (iii) flexibility and simplicity for experimental setup and data processing. The technique was examined by both phantom and human brain experiments at 4 Tesla. The results reveal that the DEFMI technique is promising for applications in metabolism studies aimed at investigating physiological and pathological questions.     

基于Hadamard矩阵优化排序的快速单像素成像

为提升单像素成像速度,提出了基于Hadamard矩阵优化排序的压缩采样解决方案.利用数值仿真和室外实验对提出的5种排序方法进行了对比分析.研究结果表明:按Haar小波变换系数绝对值排序时单像素成像效果最优,排序对应到Walsh序后可利用快速变换重建图像,速度达300帧/秒@64×64像素;最优排序下,采样率25%仍可重建图像,采样速度可提升4倍.针对排序方法与成像信噪比关系,从关联成像角度给出了其物理解释:测量基矩阵元邻域数值相等的区域面积等效于光场二阶相干面积,当光场二阶相干面积随测量基由大到小排序时成像效果最优.本文研究成果可用于提升单像素成像速度,具有实用价值.     

Repetition time and flip angle variation in SPRITE imaging for acquisition time and SAR reduction

Single point imaging methods such as SPRITE are often the technique of choice for imaging fast-relaxing nuclei in solids. Single point imaging sequences based on SPRITE in their conventional form are ill-suited for in vivo applications since the acquisition time is long and the SAR is high. A new sequence design is presented employing variable repetition times and variable flip angles in order to improve the characteristics of SPRITE for in vivo applications. The achievable acquisition time savings as well as SAR reductions and/or SNR increases afforded by this approach were investigated using a resolution phantom as well as PSF simulations. Imaging results in phantoms indicate that acquisition times may be reduced by up to 70% and the SAR may be reduced by 40% without an appreciable loss of image quality.