核磁共振显微术的DESIRE效应模拟(英文)

要在合理时间內进行微米等级解析度的扫描时,核磁共振波谱的信噪比一直是一个很大的限制. DESIRE效应利用扩散现象来增强信号强度及解析度的概念被提出后,信噪比在一维的情况下大约可以增加一个数量级.在先期的研究中,模拟外加磁场的效应通常是使用叠代数值计算,而扩散的效应则是利用有限微分法解Bloch-Torrey e-quation ,这样的模拟方法通常很耗时.该研究中,分别使用Shinnar-LeRoux演算法及基于旋积的扩散模拟方法来加速计算出外加磁场及扩散对于信号的影响,因此可以节省大量计算时间以进行复杂的计算.利用一维模拟结果预测在不同参数实验中解析度的改变和信号增加值,并找出最佳的参数值.而由模拟结果指出,Sinc3脉冲波形可以得到最佳的信号增加量及不错的解析度.     

A closer look into DESIRE for NMR microscopy

The major challenge of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) microscopy at a spatial resolution of a few micrometers is to obtain a sufficiently high signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) within a reasonable measurement time. As a particular difficulty, molecular self-diffusion poses a serious limitation to true spatial resolution and SNR if conventional Fourier encoding techniques are used. Opposed to that, the alternative DESIRE (Diffusion Enhancement of SIgnal and REsolution) approach to NMR microscopy utilises diffusion to increase the SNR. Being a real-space imaging method, spatial localisation is accomplished by saturation pulses while diffusion continuously replaces the saturated by unsaturated spins. For this technique a signal enhancement of up to three orders of magnitude has been predicted and initial experimental data have provided a proof of principle. In the present work, a detailed investigation of one-dimensional (1D) DESIRE is presented including simulations of a real implementation of the method, a quantitative experimental analysis, and basic 1D imaging. The simulations reveal the importance and provide the means of ensuring the true spatial resolution for this particular way of localisation, enable the selection of useful experimental parameters, and predict the specific image contrast to be expected around barriers restricting diffusion. Experimental data are presented with resolutions down to 3 microm and DESIRE enhancement up to 25 that are in good agreement with the simulation results. In particular, 1D DESIRE imaging in a phantom confirms the expected signal drop close to barriers due to spatially restricted diffusion.     

Comparison of different methods for combining phase-contrast images obtained with multiple coils

The ability to determine coil sensitivities implies that a method optimized in terms of maximized signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be applied to the combination of multiple coil images. An optimization of SNR subsequently results in a minimized variance in quantitative velocity measurements using phase-contrast imaging. When coil sensitivities are unknown, the weighted mean method, utilizing the square of the signal magnitude as weights, is suitable for combination of multiple phase images. In this study, the optimized method using estimated coil sensitivities was compared to the weighted mean method both theoretically and experimentally. It is shown that absence of noise correlation between the different coil images implies no difference between the methods regarding the variance of the phase. In the practical situation, noise correlation does exist, implying an opportunity for further reduction of phase variance using the optimized method. In vitro and in vivo studies showed, however, no significant difference between the two methods studied.     

Correspondence normalized ghost imaging on compressive sensing

Ghost imaging(GI) offers great potential with respect to conventional imaging techniques. It is an open problem in GI systems that a long acquisition time is be required for reconstructing images with good visibility and signal-to-noise ratios(SNRs). In this paper, we propose a new scheme to get good performance with a shorter construction time. We call it correspondence normalized ghost imaging based on compressive sensing(CCNGI). In the scheme, we enhance the signal-to-noise performance by normalizing the reference beam intensity to eliminate the noise caused by laser power fluctuations, and reduce the reconstruction time by using both compressive sensing(CS) and time-correspondence imaging(CI) techniques. It is shown that the qualities of the images have been improved and the reconstruction time has been reduced using CCNGI scheme. For the two-grayscale "double-slit" image, the mean square error(MSE) by GI and the normalized GI(NGI) schemes with the measurement number of 5000 are 0.237 and 0.164, respectively, and that is 0.021by CCNGI scheme with 2500 measurements. For the eight-grayscale "lena" object, the peak signal-to-noise rates(PSNRs)are 10.506 and 13.098, respectively using GI and NGI schemes while the value turns to 16.198 using CCNGI scheme. The results also show that a high-fidelity GI reconstruction has been achieved using only 44% of the number of measurements corresponding to the Nyquist limit for the two-grayscale "double-slit" object. The qualities of the reconstructed images using CCNGI are almost the same as those from GI via sparsity constraints(GISC) with a shorter reconstruction time.     

Model-based electron microscopy: From images toward precise numbers for unknown structure parameters

Statistical parameter estimation theory is proposed as a method to quantify electron microscopy images. It aims at obtaining precise and accurate values for the unknown structure parameters including, for example, atomic column positions and types. In this theory, observations are purely considered as data planes, from which structure parameters have to be determined using a parametric model describing the images. The method enables us to measure positions of atomic columns with a precision of the order of a few picometers even though the resolution of the electron microscope is one or two orders of magnitude larger. Moreover, small differences in averaged atomic number, which cannot be distinguished visually, can be quantified using high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy images. Finally, it is shown how to optimize the experimental design so as to attain the highest precision. As an example, the optimization of the probe size for nanoparticle radius measurements is considered. It is also shown how to quantitatively balance signal-to-noise ratio and resolution by adjusting the probe size.     

Error propagation model for microscopic magnetic resonance elastography shear-wave images

Microscopic magnetic resonance elastography is a high-resolution method for visualizing shear waves and assessing the biomechanical viscoelastic properties of small biological samples. In this work, we used error propagation to develop a simple analytical model that relates the signal-to-noise ratio of MR magnitude images to the variance in shear-wave maps collected using gradient-echo and spin-echo phase-contrast pulse sequences. Our model predicts results for shear-wave images in phantoms, which match the experimentally observed phase variance within 8%. This model can be used to optimize MR pulse sequences for elastography studies, as well as other phase-difference techniques in MRI.     

Improved Resolution and Signal-to-Noise Ratio in MRI via Enhanced Signal Digitization

The high frequencyk-space data in magnetic resonance imaging is often poorly reproduced due to the finite dynamic range of an analog-to-digital converter. The magnitude of this digitization error can equal and even exceed the magnitude of the thermal noise. Under such conditions, attempts to increase image signal-to-noise ratio via signal averaging meet with diminishing success. Because the relative size of the digitization error increases at higher spatial frequencies, a reduction in image resolution is incurred as well. By adjusting the level of the analog signal sampled by the analog-to-digital converter during the course of an imaging experiment, the magnitude of the digitization artifact can be greatly reduced. The results of simulations and imaging experiments are presented which demonstrate that this strategy improves both the signal-to-noise ratio and resolution of magnetic resonance images.     

Phase-aligned multiple spin-echo averaging: a simple way to improve signal-to-noise ratio of in vivo mouse spinal cord diffusion tensor image

Purpose

To improve signal-noise-ratio of in vivo mouse spinal cord diffusion tensor imaging using-phase aligned multiple spin-echo technique.

Material and methods

In vivo mouse spinal cord diffusion tensor imaging maps generated by multiple spin-echo and conventional spin-echo diffusion weighting were examined to demonstrate the efficacy of multiple spin-echo diffusion sequence to improve image quality and throughput. Effects of signal averaging using complex, magnitude and phased images from multiple spin-echo diffusion weighting were also assessed. Bayesian probability theory was used to generate phased images by moving the coherent signals to the real channel to eliminate the effect of phase variation between echoes while preserving the Gaussian noise distribution. Signal averaging of phased multiple spin-echo images potentially solves both the phase incoherence problem and the bias of the elevated Rician noise distribution in magnitude image. The proposed signal averaging with Bayesian phase-aligned multiple spin-echo images approach was compared to the conventional spin-echo data acquired with doubling the scan time. The diffusion tensor imaging parameters were compared in the mouse contusion spinal cord injury. Significance level (p-value) and effect size (Cohen’s d) were reported between the control and contused spinal cord to inspect the sensitivity of each approach in detecting white matter pathology.

Results

Compared to the spin-echo image, the signal-noise-ratio increased to 1.84-fold using the phased image averaging and to 1.30-fold using magnitude image averaging in the spinal cord white matter. Multiple spin-echo phased image averaging showed improved image quality of the mouse spinal cord among the tested methods. Diffusion tensor imaging metrics obtained from multiple spin-echo phased images using three echoes and two averages closely agreed with those derived by spin-echo magnitude data with four averages (two times more in acquisition time). The phased image averaging correctly reflected pathological features in contusion spinal cord injury.

Conclusion

Our in vivo imaging results indicate that averaging the phased multiple spin-echo images yields an 84% signal-noise-ratio increase over the spin-echo images and a 41% gain over the magnitude averaged multiple spin-echo images with equal acquisition time. Current results from the animal model of spinal cord injury suggest that the phased multiple spin-echo images could be used to improve signal-noise-ratio.     

Use of a Phase Reference for Field Mapping with Amplitude Images at Low Field

We present a method to obtain MRI amplitude images that can picture the magnetic field due to arbitrary shaped magnetized objects. The method employees the gradient recalled echo sequence and two sets of data obtained in separate experiments, one of which provides a phase reference image making it possible to eliminate the effect of theB₀field inhomogeneities. The final magnitude images have a good signal-to-noise even at low fields, and provide qualitative as well as quantitative information about the magnetic field produced by the ferromagnetic object. As an example the method is applied to study the field produced by a small metal piece in a 500-G scanner, and the experimental results are compared with numerical simulations.     

Single quantum dot spontaneous emission in a finite-size photonic crystal waveguide: proposal for an efficient "on chip" single photon gun

Spontaneous emission rate enhancements from a single quantum dot embedded in a finite-size, planar photonic-crystal waveguide are investigated. Short waveguide lengths of only 10 to 20 unit cells are found to produce very large Purcell factors associated with a waveguidelike sharp resonance feature in the local density of photon states. Aided by theoretical insight and rigorous computational calculations, we explain the physics behind these remarkable emission enhancements and subsequently propose a "single-photon gun" with on-chip unidirectional collection efficiencies greater than 60% into an output wire waveguide. The advantages over recent proposals for infinitely long photonic-crystal waveguides are highlighted.     

Optical implementation of orthogonal phase-code multiplexing

We propose a new optical implementation of orthogonal phase-code multiplexing in which an arbitrary phase shift of theta or theta +pi is used in the reference beam instead of 0 or pi as in the conventional method. To compare the new and the conventional methods, we employ a 2-bit orthogonal phase code and store two binary-data images in a BaTiO(3) crystal with each method. We also employ numerical methods to simulate the 2-bit phase-code multiplexing and show that the signal-to-noise ratio in the restored images is improved by more than one order of magnitude in the new method in our experimental conditions.     

On the enhancement of the fundamental symmetry breaking effects

It is shown that not all the enhancements of the fundamental symmetry-breaking effects allow to increase the accuracy of their measurements. The relative error of the effect is suggested as criterion of its measurement accuracy rather than the effect’s magnitude. It is shown that the kinematical or structural enhancements practically do not affect the magnitude of this error and thus do not increase the accuracy of the effect’s measurements. Examples of some artificial normalizations are given which cause the nonphysical enhancements of the effects.     

Measurements and modeling of long range 3He diffusion in the lung using a "slice-washout" method

In healthy lung tissue, pulsed-gradient-spin-echo (PGSE) methods reveal apparent diffusion coefficients (ADC) of the order 0.20 cm2 s(-1); for diffusion times of approximately 2 ms. For these short diffusion times the ADC is only sensitive to structures approximately (2Dt)1/2 approximately 0.6mm in size. Recent work, using magnetic tagging of the longitudinal magnetization has revealed much smaller ADC values for longer length scales. In this work, the in vivo ADC from within the air-spaces, was measured using a new technique. The signal from a series of images was analyzed from a slice that was repeatedly imaged. Diffusion tends to "top-up" the non-renewable polarization within the slice, which leads to a non-exponential decay in image signal. Image data were compared to 1D finite-difference simulations of diffusion to calculate a long range ADC value. The results yield values of the order 0.034 cm2 s(-1), which are nearly an order of magnitude smaller than those reported by PGSE measurements at shorter diffusion times.     

Multi-exponential analysis of magnitude MR images using a quantitative multispectral edge-preserving filter

A solution for discrete multi-exponential analysis of T(2) relaxation decay curves obtained in current multi-echo imaging protocol conditions is described. We propose a preprocessing step to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and thus lower the signal-to-noise ratio threshold from which a high percentage of true multi-exponential detection is detected. It consists of a multispectral nonlinear edge-preserving filter that takes into account the signal-dependent Rician distribution of noise affecting magnitude MR images. Discrete multi-exponential decomposition, which requires no a priori knowledge, is performed by a non-linear least-squares procedure initialized with estimates obtained from a total least-squares linear prediction algorithm. This approach was validated and optimized experimentally on simulated data sets of normal human brains.     

Tunneling through a coherent "Quantum antidot molecule"

We report experiments on resonant tunneling through a quantum antidot in the fractional quantum Hall regime. The envelope of the conductance peaks indicates tunneling via two resonant states, one of them bound on the lithographic antidot, the other on a hill of the disorder potential. Moreover, our analysis indicates that the coherent tunneling rate between the two states is an order of magnitude higher than the phase breaking rate, thus giving evidence for a coherently coupled "antidot molecule."     

Polarization enhancement technique for nuclear quadrupole resonance detection

We demonstrate a dramatic increase in the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) signal by using a polarization enhancement technique. By first applying a static magnetic field to pre-polarize one spin subsystem of a material, and then allowing that net polarization to be transferred to the quadrupole subsystem, we increased the SNR of a sample of ammonium nitrate by one-order of magnitude.     

Adaptive anisotropic noise filtering for magnitude MR data

Conventional noise filtering schemes applied to magnitude magnetic resonance (MR) images tacitly assume Gauss distributed noise. Magnitude MR data, however, are Rice distributed. Not incorporating this knowledge leads inevitably to biased results, in particular when applying such filters in regions with low signal-to-noise ratio. In this work, we show how the Rice data probability distribution can be incorporated so as to construct a noise filter that is far less biased.     

Signal-to-noise ratio of ultrashort pulses enhanced by a fiber Sagnac loop

A method to enhance the signal-to-noise ratio of ultrashort pulses is presented with picosecond pulses as an example. Numerical simulation and analysis show that the signal-to-noise ratio can be improved by four orders of magnitude using a fiber Sagnac loop with two different fibers. It is also found that there is an optimal length of the fiber for improving the signal-to-noise ratio. This is a useful method for improving the signal-to-noise ratio of the seed light in the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) or optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) systems.     

Laser Doppler velocimeter using a single longitudinal mode solid-state laser source

An experimental demonstration of using a single longitudinal mode solid-state laser source in laser Doppler velocimeter (LDV) is presented. The technology of frequency spectrum correction is used in processing Doppler signal. The results of the experiments show that: the magnitude and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of Doppler signal are both enhanced by the solid-state laser; the measurement accuracy of LDV is improved by the technology of frequency spectrum correction, and the variance of the measured Doppler frequency is larger than the Cramer-Rao low bound (CRLB) of Doppler frequency about one order of magnitude.     

High signal-to-noise FLASH imaging at 8 Tesla.

A radio frequency (RF) and gradient spoiled fast low angle shot technique was used to acquire images from the human brain at 8 Tesla. The resulting FLASH images, obtained with a 17 degrees nutation, a 70 ms repetition time, and a 17 ms echo time, displayed an average signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 220:1 (slice thickness 2.2 mm, field-of-view 24 cm, matrix 256 x 128). These images were compared with images obtained at 1.5 Tesla using identical parameters yielding a signal-to-noise of less than 10:1. As such, the 8 Tesla images display a remarkable improvement in SNR with increasing field strength. The images also show little evidence of susceptibility distortion, chemical shift, or RF penetration limitations.