A mixed waveform protocol for reduction of the cardiac motion artifact in black-blood diffusion-weighted imaging of the liver

ObjectiveDiffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in the liver suffers from signal loss due to the cardiac motion artifact, especially in the left liver lobe. The purpose of this work was to improve the image quality of liver DWI in terms of cardiac motion artifact reduction and achievement of black-blood images in low b-value images.Material and methodsTen healthy volunteers (age 20–31 years) underwent MRI examinations at 1.5 T with a prototype DWI sequence provided by the vendor. Two diffusion encodings (i.e. waveforms), monopolar and flow-compensated, and the b-values 0, 20, 50, 100, 150, 600 and 800 s/mm² were used. Two Likert scales describing the severity of the pulsation artifact and the quality of the black-blood state were defined and evaluated by two experienced radiologists. Regions of interest (ROIs) were manually drawn in the right and left liver lobe in each slice and combined to a volume of interest (VOI). The mean and coefficient of variation were calculated for each normalized VOI-averaged signal to assess the severity of the cardiac motion artifact. The ADC was calculated using two b-values once for the monopolar data and once with mixed data, using the monopolar data for the small and the flow-compensated data for the high b-value. A Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to compare the Likert scores obtained for monopolar and flow-compensated data.ResultsAt b-values from 20 to 150 s/mm², unlike the flow-compensated diffusion encoding, the monopolar encoding yielded black blood in all images with a negligible signal loss due to the cardiac motion artifact. At the b-values 600 and 800 s/mm², the flow-compensated encoding resulted in a significantly reduced cardiac motion artifact, especially in the left liver lobe, and in a black-blood state. The ADC calculated with monopolar data was significantly higher in the left than in the right liver lobe.ConclusionIt is recommendable to use the following mixed waveform protocol: Monopolar diffusion encodings at small b-values and flow-compensated diffusion encodings at high b-values.     

An MR imaging method for simultaneous measurement of gaseous diffusion constant and longitudinal relaxation time

A magnetic resonance imaging method for simultaneous and accurate determination of gaseous diffusion constant and longitudinal relaxation time is presented. The method is based on direct observation of diffusive motion. Initially, a slice-selective saturation of helium-3 (3He) spins was performed on a 3He/O2 phantom (9 atm/2 atm). A time-delay interval was introduced after saturation, allowing spins to diffuse in and out of the labeled slice. Following the delay interval a one-dimensional (1-D) projection image of the phantom was acquired. A series of 21 images was collected, each subsequent image having been acquired with an increased delay interval. Gradual spreading of the slice boundaries due to diffusion was thus observed. The projection profiles were fit to a solution of the Bloch equation corrected for diffusive motion. The fitting procedure yielded a value of D3He = 0.1562+/-0.0013 cm2/s, in good agreement with a measurement obtained with a modified version of the standard pulsed-field gradient technique. The method also enabled us to accurately measure the longitudinal relaxation of 3He spins by fitting the change of the total area under the projection profiles to an exponential. A value of T1 = 1.67 s (2 T field) was recorded, in excellent agreement with an inversion recovery measurement.     

Removal of partial volume averaging with free water in MR diffusion tensor imaging using inversion recovery for b0 image

Purpose

To remove the partial volume averaging effect of free water in MR diffusion imaging of neural tissues by use of the fluid attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) without the penalty of an extended scan time.

Materials and methods

The magnetic resonance images were obtained from a normal volunteer in a coronal slice orientation at 3 T with the 20-channel rf coil. In diffusion imaging only the b0 images were obtained with the FLAIR contrast while the diffusion weighted images were obtained without the FLAIR contrast. A composition of FLAIR b0 and non-FLAIR diffusion weighted images was used in calculating the diffusion tensor and fractional anisotropy after compensating the reduced signal amplitude due to the inversion recovery in the FLAIR b0 images. The fractional anisotropy of the non-FLAIR, FLAIR, and the composite methods were analyzed for the mean and histogram in the corpus callosum, cervical spine, and the fornix tracts.

Results

The partial volume averaging effect was observed in the corpus callosum, the cervical spine, and the fornix tracts in the non-FLAIR b0 and diffusion images. The partial volume averaging effect was removed in the FLAIR diffusion images which took more than twice the scan time than the non-FLAIR diffusion imaging. The proposed composite FLAIR diffusion imaging removed the partial volume averaging effect as in the FLAIR diffusion imaging. The distribution of the FA histogram was very different between the non-FLAIR and FLAIR diffusion images, while it was very similar between the FLAIR and the composite FLAIR after correcting the white matter signal in the FLAIR b0 images.

Conclusions

The proposed composite FLAIR diffusion imaging method was equally effective in removing the partial volume averaging effect as the FLAIR diffusion imaging at a limited increase of the scan time since only a small number of b0 images needed to be obtained with the FLAIR contrast.     

Dynamic Contrast-Enhanced Imaging and Analysis at High Spatial Resolution of MCF7 Human Breast Tumors

High resolution, dynamic GdDTPA-enhanced images of MCF7 human breast tumors in immunodeficient mice were analyzed at pixel resolution. The analysis, based on a physiological model, was performed by applying a nonlinear least-square algorithm using a color coded scale. The final output mapped at pixel resolution capillary permeability times surface area and fraction of extracellular volume, for each tumor slice. In addition, the output included assessment of the fit to the model by determining the proportion of variability (R²) for each pixel. The spatial variation in theR²values served to identify regions where the predominant mechanism of enhancement was leakage from the intravascular volume to the extracellular volume (R²close to 1). In regions with lowR²other mechanisms of enhancement appear to be dominating presumably diffusion within the extracellular space. As expected, in necrotic regions lacking microcapillaries and identified by analyzingT₂-weighted images of the same tumors, the model failed to fit the dynamic contrast enhanced data. The heterogeneous distribution of the determined pathophysiological features demonstrates the importance of recording and analyzing breast tumor images at high spatial resolution.     

Measurement of pulsatile flow using MRI and a Bayesian technique of probability analysis

This work shows that complete spatial information of periodic pulsatile fluid flows can be rapidly obtained by Bayesian probability analysis of flow encoded magnetic resonance imaging data. These data were acquired as a set of two-dimensional images (complete two-dimensional sampling of k-space or reciprocal position space) but with a sparse (six point) and nonuniform sampling of q-space or reciprocal displacement space. This approach enables more precise calculation of fluid velocity to be achieved than by conventional two q-sample phase encoding of velocities, without the significant time disadvantage associated with the complete flow measurement required for Fourier velocity imaging. For experimental comparison with the Bayesian analysis applied to nonuniformly sampled q-space data, a Fourier velocity imaging technique was used with one-dimensional spatial encoding within a selected slice and a uniform sampling of q-space using 64 values of the pulsed gradients to encode fluid flow. Because the pulsatile flows were axially symmetric within the resolution of the experiment, the radial variation of fluid velocity, in the direction of the pulsed gradients, was reconstructed from one-dimensional spatial projections of the velocity by exploiting the central slice theorem. Data were analysed for internal consistency using linearised flow theories. The results show that nonuniform q-space sampling followed by Bayesian probability analysis is at least as accurate as the combined uniform q-space sampling with Fourier velocity imaging and projection reconstruction method. Both techniques give smaller errors than a two-point sampling of q-space (the conventional flow encoding experiment).     

Method for measuring chemical diffusion coefficients in solids

Experiments were performed with temperature programmed desorption of hydrogen and deuterium adsorbates on small platinum spheres. Beyond the expected desorption peak of these adsorbates at around 300 K sample temperature an additional desorption peak at higher temperatures was observed. This additional peak is explained by the diffusion of hydrogen or deuterium atoms from the inside of the spheres to their surfaces with final desorption from these surfaces. The visibility of this second high temperature desorption peak is supported by a small diameter of the platinum spheres. Platinum spheres with diameters around 64 μm were used. The sample temperature at which the second peak was observed depends on the parameters: diameter of the platinum spheres, heating rate of the sample and chemical diffusion coefficient of hydrogen or deuterium in platinum. A theory, which assumes that the chemical diffusion coefficient can be described with an Arrhenius ansatz, was developed to simulate the occurrence of the second peak. The combination of these kinds of experiments with the theory gives a method to measure chemical diffusion coefficients. This method can be called temperature programmed diffusion. At 510 K sample temperature the diffusion coefficient 1.61×10⁻¹² m²/s of hydrogen in platinum and the diffusion coefficient 1.40×10⁻¹² m²/s of deuterium in platinum was measured.     

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.     

Noninvasive 3D MR microscopy as a tool in pharmacological research: Application to a model of rheumatoid arthritis

Magnetic resonance microscopy (MRM) was applied to noninvasively image skeletal structures in the hindpaw of the live rat to characterize the progression of a heterologous type II collagen-induced arthritic process. Using a resonator, with optimized filling factor, three-dimensional (3D) gradient-echo images with voxel dimensions of 94 × 81 × 60 μm³ were acquired in 54.6 min. Three-dimensional MRM reduces the slice positioning problem, which is critical in longitudinal studies. Moreover, due to the much smaller slice thickness of images derived from 3D data sets, partial volume effects are less pronounced than in corresponding 2D images. Distinct pathomorphological changes associated with the collagen-induced arthritic process (e.g., increase of metatarsophalangeal joint space, and bone and cartilage erosion) could thus be analyzed under in vivo conditions.     

One-dimensional diffusion of vacancies on Sr/Si(100)-c(2×4) surface

An Sr/Si(100)-c(2×4) surface is investigated by high-resolution scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS). The semiconductor property of this surface is confirmed by STS. The STM images of this surface shows that it is bias-voltage dependent and an atomic resolution image can be obtained at an empty state under a bias voltage of 1.5 V. Furthermore, one-dimensional (1D) diffusion of vacancies can be found in the room-temperature STM images. Sr vacancies diffuse along the valley channels, which are constructed by silicon dimers in the surface. Weak interaction between Sr and silicon dimers, low metal coverage, surface vacancy, and energy of thermal fluctuation at room temperature all contribute to this 1D diffusion.     

Computer-Generated Holograms Based on the Three-Dimensional Fourier Spectrum

A method to synthesize a computer-generated hologram (CGH) of real-existing objects from projection images is proposed. Different from other similar methods, our method enables the synthesis of a CGH with only one-dimensional (1-D) mechanical scanning of the objects. Our method is connected with the three-dimensional (3-D) Fourier spectrum of the objects by the 3-D central slice theorem (CST). Two efficient recording techniques for projection images and numerical experiments to verify our principle is discussed. A comparison between the two techniques is also presented from the viewpoint of diffraction efficiency. © 2005 The Optical Society of Japan     

The kinetics of an atom diffusing in one dimension: Hydrogen in quartz

Abstract

The time dependence of frequency recovery at 306 K of pulse-irradiated quartz is analyzed and shown to be inconsistent with the diffusion of a specie in three dimensions, but follows well diffusion in one dimension. The main feature which distinguishes these cases is a t ^?1/2 time dependence of the recovery. No extended region for a t ^?1/2 dependence is possible in three-dimensional diffusion. An extensive t ^?1/2 dependence is predicted in one-dimensional diffusion, paralleling the observation that this holds for some three decades in time and over 80% of the recovery.

Having established one-dimensional diffusion in frequency recovery, it is shown that acoustic relaxation found at 115 K and a long time component of conductivity recovery found near 300 K, as well as the frequency recovery, all appear to originate in a common mechanism—the diffusion of H⁺ in one dimension with an activation of approximately ¼ electron volt.     

Diffusion-weighted imaging of bacteria colonies in the STRAFI plane

Imaging colonies of bacteria in water suspension using NMR requires that the water inside the bacteria can be differentiated from the surrounding water. This is commonly carried out by using diffusion-weighted pulsed field gradient techniques. However, it is also possible to use the diffusion sensitivity inherent in stray field imaging (STRAFI). In STRAFI, the subject to be imaged is normally moved along the axis of a superconducting magnet so that it passes through the sensitive slice. However, by moving the sample in the transverse direction and by using a long copper strip in place of a surface induction coil, a diffusion-weighted one-dimensional projection profile can be obtained across the sensitive slice. Profiles from a water phantom and from a bacteria suspension show convincing discrimination between intracellular and extracellular water.     

Microscopic observation of lateral diffusion at Si-SiO2 interface by photoelectron emission microscopy using synchrotron radiation

The lateral surface diffusion at Si-SiO₂ interface has been observed at nanometer scale using photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM) combined with synchrotron soft X-ray excitation. The samples investigated were Si-SiO_x micro-patterns prepared by O₂⁺ ion implantation in Si (0 0 1) wafer using a mask. The lateral spacial resolution of the PEEM system was about 41 nm. The brightness of each spot in the PEEM images changed depending on the photon energy around the Si K-edge, in proportion to the X-ray absorption intensity of the corresponding valence states. It was found that the lateral diffusion occurs by 400-450 °C lower temperature than that reported for the longitudinal diffusion at the Si-SiO₂ interface. It was also found that no intermediate valence states such as SiO (Si²⁺) exist at the Si-SiO₂ interface during the diffusion. The observed differences between lateral and longitudinal diffusion are interpreted by the sublimated property of silicon monoxide (SiO).     

Event-related functional MR imaging of visual cortex stimulation at high temporal resolution using a standard 1.5 T imager

The authors report the technical feasibility of measuring event-related changes in blood oxygenation for studying brain function in humans at high temporal resolution. Measurements were performed on a conventional wholebody 1.5 T clinical scanner with a nonactive-shielded standard gradient system of 1 ms rise time for a maximum gradient strength of 10 mT/m. The radiofrequency (RF) transmitting and receiving MR unit consists of a commercially available circular polarized head coil. Magnet shimming with all first-order coils was performed to the volunteer's head resulting in a magnetic field homogeneity of about 0.1–0.2 ppm. The measuring sequence used was a modified 3D, first-order flow rephased, FLASH sequence with reduced bandwidth = 40 Hz/pixel, TR = 80 ms, TE = 56 ms, flip angle = 40–50°, matrix = 64 × 128, field-of-view = 200–250 mm², slice thickness = 4 mm, NEX = 1, 128 partitions, and a total single scan time of about 10 min. In this sequence the 3D gradient table was removed and the 3D partition-loop acts as a time-loop for sequential measurement of 128 or 32 consecutive images at the same slice position. This means that event-related functional MRI could be performed with an interscan delay of 80 ms for a series of 128 sequential images or with an interscan delay of 320 ms for a simultaneous measurement of four slices with a series of 32 sequential images for each slice. We used a TTL signal given by the gradient board at the beginning of every line-loop in the measuring sequence and a self-made “TTL-Divider-Box” for the event triggering. This box was used to count and scale down the TTL signals by a factor of 128 and to trigger after every 128th TTL signal a single white flash-light, which was seen by the volunteer in the dark room of the scanner with a period of 10.24 s. As a consequence, the resulting event-related scan data coincide at each line of the series of 128 sequential images, which were repeated in 128 × 80 ms or 32 × 320 ms for the single- or four-slice experiment, respectively. Visual cortex response magnitude measured was about 5–7% with an approximate Gaussian shape and a rise time from stimulus onset to maximum of about 3–4 s, and a fall time to the baseline of about 5–6 s after end of stimulus. The reported data demonstrate the feasibility of functional MRI studies at high temporal resolution (up to 80 ms) using conventional MR equipment and measuring sequence.     

Diffusion coefficients of hydrogen and deuterium in highly concentrated palladium hydride and deuteride phases

Fick's diffusion coefficients for hydrogen and deuterium were determined in palladium hydride and deuteride in the pressure range of gaseous hydrogen and deuterium from 10¹–10⁴ bar and the temperature range from 208 to 338K. This corresponds to the concentration range H, D/Pd from about 0.8 to near stochiometry. An electrical resistance relaxation method was used experimentally. Einstein's diffusion coefficients were calculated and the activation volumes and energies were evaluated. An attempt is made to interpret the anomalous behaviour of the diffusion coefficient in the low temperature range. The results are presented in terms of a compact formula.     

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.     

A quantitative comparison of two methods to correct eddy current-induced distortions in DT-MRI

Eddy current-induced geometric distortions of single-shot, diffusion-weighted, echo-planar (DW-EP) images are a major confounding factor to the accurate determination of water diffusion parameters in diffusion tensor MRI (DT-MRI). Previously, it has been suggested that these geometric distortions can be removed from brain DW-EP images using affine transformations determined from phantom calibration experiments using iterative cross-correlation (ICC). Since this approach was first described, a number of image-based registration methods have become available that can also correct eddy current-induced distortions in DW-EP images. However, as yet no study has investigated whether separate eddy current calibration or image-based registration provides the most accurate way of removing these artefacts from DT-MRI data. Here we compare how ICC phantom calibration and affine FLIRT (http://www.fmrib.ox.ac.uk), a popular image-based multi-modal registration method that can correct both eddy current-induced distortions and bulk subject motion, perform when registering DW-EP images acquired with different slice thicknesses (2.8 and 5 mm) and b-values (1000 and 3000 s/mm(2)). With the use of consistency testing, it was found that ICC was a more robust algorithm for correcting eddy current-induced distortions than affine FLIRT, especially at high b-value and small slice thickness. In addition, principal component analysis demonstrated that the combination of ICC phantom calibration (to remove eddy current-induced distortions) with rigid body FLIRT (to remove bulk subject motion) provided a more accurate registration of DT-MRI data than that achieved by affine FLIRT.     

Radiation-enhanced diffusion in ion-implanted glass

The Rutherford backscattering technique was used to characterize the purposedly added cesium impurities in soda-lime glass. The impurities were introduced into the glass matrix by an ion-exchange diffusion process at room temperature. The diffusion coefficient of cesium was determined from the measured depth profiles. The diffusion of the cesium impurities stimulated by 280 keV Kr⁺-ion beam irradiation was also studied. The depth distributions obtained are discussed using the model of radiation enhanced diffusion. Results are compared with theoretical values based on transport of ions in matter calculations and other experimental work.On sabbatical leave at Applied Science University, Physics Department, P. O. Box 926296, Amman, Jordan     

Single-shot diffusion imaging at 2.0 tesla

A single-shot echo-planar diffusion imaging sequence (IVIM-EPI: intra-voxel incoherent motion echo-planar imaging) is presented, which is immune from the motion artifacts which may seriously impair images obtained using other diffusion imaging sequences. For a static water phantom, the measured value of diffusion constant (D = 2.30 × 10⁻⁹ m² s⁻¹ at T = 298 K) shows excellent agreement with that obtained using a multipulse spin-echo technique and with literature values. Single-shot diffusion imaging can now be used reliably to make dynamic time-course studies with excellent time resolution.     

The Proton-Resonance-Frequency-Shift Method Compared with Molecular Diffusion for Quantitative Measurement of Two-Dimensional Time-Dependent Temperature Distribution in a Phantom

Noninvasive thermometry methods with magnetic resonance imaging usually explore the temperature dependence of the molecular diffusion coefficient of water. A method based on the temperature dependence of the proton resonance frequency is proposed in this study and compared with the diffusion method. The comparison was made with a gel phantom with muscle characteristics and for a voxel size of 0.8 × 0.8 × 10 mm³. The root-mean-square deviation of the temperature images obtained with simulations of the thermal process is between 0.1 and 0.15°C for the proton-resonance-shift-based method with an acquisition time of 1 minute and 0.9-1°C for the diffusion-based method with an acquisition time of 4.5 minutes. Unfortunately, the proton-resonance-shift method is very sensitive to the drift of the external magnetic field and therefore a method of external references was proposed to correct for this drift. The method proves to be adequate as long as the thermal be of interest do not take more than 1 hour.