超声全聚焦成像中等声程线伪影剔除方法

针对超声全聚焦成像算法中等声程线扩散产生的原理性伪影问题,提出了一种基于超声回波声场有效等声程线和图像强度分布特征相结合的伪影剔除方法。首先分析了全聚焦成像算法中等声程线产生伪影的机理,根据数据均方根误差自适应辨识有效等声程线;通过Canny算子获取全聚焦图像待处理候选区域,再根据候选区域中有效等声程线相交次数和图像强度的分布特征辨识缺陷图像和伪影,利用图像中强度最低像素值扩展填充剔除伪影后的区域,进而达到剔除伪影的目的。通过在不同直径通孔类和槽类标准缺陷试块上声场模拟实验,结果表明伪影剔除效果显著。同时,该方法对噪声也有一定的抑制能力,在不加滤波的条件下信号信噪比高于15 dB时就可获得较好的去伪影效果。     

Image-Based Reduction of Artifacts in Multishot Echo-Planar Imaging

The method to reduce the ghost artifact in echo-planar imaging (EPI) using a phase correction derived from the image data (M. H. Buonocore and L. Gao,Magn. Reson. Med.38, 89 (1997)) is generalized to multishot (interleaved) EPI, where the artifact takes the form of multiple ghosts. The method is shown to be much more sensitive to noise when applied to standard interleaved data than is the case with single-shot EPI, because the calculation must be based on high-order ghosts of low intensity. A modified interleaving scheme is proposed for multishot EPI in which the initial trajectory direction alternates in consecutive shots and the number of shots is odd. With this scheme, only a single ghost shifted by one-half of the field of view appears just as in the single-shot EPI, and the image-based phase correction can be applied with the usual sensitivity to noise.     

Near-infrared spectroscopic analysis of aging degradation in antique washi paper using a deuterium exchange method

The diffusion process of deuterated water (D₂O) in washi (Japanese traditional paper) was investigated by means of a deuterium exchange method and Fourier-transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) transmission spectroscopy. The samples were the modern (AD 2003) hand-made washi and those from an archival collection of cultural artifacts (AD 1791 and 1615). Four absorption bands were identified in the NIR spectral range from 7200 to 6000 cm⁻¹ which are due to OH groups in the amorphous, semi-crystalline and two types of crystalline regions of cellulose. The accessibility of D₂O increased with decreasing state of order of cellulose, and the saturation accessibility increased with the age of the samples. It was suggested that during aging hemicellulose, which forms a composite with cellulose in paper, was progressively hydrolyzed, resulting in the expansion of inter-molecular distance between cellulose chains. The oldest sample showed a low diffusion rate compared with the others. SEM observation of the textile structures indicated that the oldest sample had two layers due to beating. It was estimated that the tight surface layer blocked the diffusant in the initial stage of the diffusion process.     

Randomized Acquisition for the Suppression of Systematic F1 Artifacts in Two-Dimensional NMR Spectroscopy

2D spectra, particularly for homonuclear correlation, can show a variety of artifactual signals in the F₁ domain. Common sources include carry-over of signal modulation from one transient to the next (“rapid pulsing artifacts”) and systematic variations in room temperature (“parallel diagonals”). In both cases there is one very simple expedient which can greatly reduce the impact of these sources of error. Multidimensional data sets are almost invariably recorded by simply incrementing or decrementing evolution periods, largely for reasons of convenience and historical precedent. If instead the sampling of the evolution periods is carried out in random order, the perturbations responsible for the sharp F₁ signals in the conventional experiment manifest themselves as t₁ noise. Since the randomized acquisition redistributes coherent artifactual signals randomly in F₁, the maximum artifactual signal is substantially reduced in the randomized experiment and no longer appears in the form of misleading distinct peaks.     

Three-dimensional numerical simulations of susceptibility-induced magnetic field inhomogeneities in the human head

Three-dimensional numerical simulations of the static magnetic field in the human head were carried out to assess the field inhomogeneity due to magnetic susceptibility differences at tissue interfaces. We used a finite difference method and magnetic permeability distributions obtained by segmentation of computed tomography images. Computations were carried out for four models, consisting of the head and the neck; the head, neck, and shoulders; the head, neck, and thorax; and the head tilted backwards, including the neck and the shoulders. Considerable magnetic field inhomogeneities were observed in the inferior frontal lobes and inferior temporal lobes, particularly near the sphenoid sinus and the temporal bones. Air/tissue interfaces at the shoulders were found to induce substantial magnetic field inhomogeneities in the occipital lobes and the cerebellum, whereas air/tissue interfaces in the lungs appeared to have less influence on the magnetic field in the brain. Tilting the head backwards could significantly reduce the field inhomogeneities superior to the planum sphenoidale as well as in the occipital lobes and the cerebellum.     

The statistical sinogram smoothing via adaptive-weighted total variation regularization for low-dose X-ray CT

Though clinically desired, low-dose X-ray computed tomography (CT) images tend to be degraded by the noise-contaminated sinogram data. Preprocessing the noisy sinogram before filtered back-projection (FBP) is an effective way to solve this problem. This paper presents a statistical sinogram smoothing approach for low-dose CT reconstruction. The approach is obtained by minimizing an energy function consisting of an adaptive-weighted total variation (AWTV) regularization term and a data fidelity term based on the Markov random fields (MRF) framework. The AWTV regularization term can make our algorithm automatically adjust the smoothing degree according to the feature and the level of noise of the smoothed pixel. The experimental results indicate that the proposed approach has the excellent performance in visual effects and quantitative analysis.     

Some problems in adsorption and calorimetric studies of the steps of catalytic processes

Principal side factors as well as technical and procedural peculiarities capable of distorting the results of measurements of adsorbed and desorbed amounts, of falsifying the nature of the processes proceeding in the systems under study, and of promoting artifacts in calorimetric and other studies of gas chemisorption on powders are considered. Modified techniques and procedures allowing the elimination of sources of side phenomena and artifacts and freeing traditional glass static adsorption apparatuses and experimental procedures from undesirable factors and peculiarities are proposed. Some available chemisorption and calorimetric data representing artifacts and also some data that are not artifacts but,due to imperfections of chemisorption techniques, show up as artifacts are presented and discussed. Several applications of the improved techniques and procedures to calorimetric and adsorption studies of the steps of catalytic processes proceeding on the basis of natural gas and of products of its processing are presented and discussed.     

Reducing inhomogeneity artifacts in functional MRI of human brain activation-thin sections vs gradient compensation

We evaluated two methods for correcting inhomogeneity-induced signal losses in magnetic resonance gradient-echo imaging that either use gradient compensation or simply acquire thin sections. The strategies were tested in the human brain in terms of achievable quality of T2*-weighted images at the level of the hippocampus and of functional activation maps of the visual cortex. Experiments were performed at 2.0 T and based on single-shot echo-planar imaging at 2. 0 x 2.0 mm(2) resolution, 4 mm section thickness, and 2.0 s temporal resolution. Gradient compensation involved a sequential 16-step variation of the refocusing lobe of the slice-selection gradient (TR/TE = 125/53 ms, flip angle 15 degrees ), whereas thin sections divided the 4-mm target plane into either four 1-mm or eight 0.5-mm interleaved multislice acquisitions (TR/TE = 2000/54 ms, flip angle 70 degrees ). Both approaches were capable of alleviating the inhomogeneity problem for structures in the base of the brain. When compared to standard 4-mm EPI, functional mapping in the visual cortex was partially compromised because of a lower signal-to-noise ratio of inhomogeneity-corrected images by either method. Relative to each other, consistently better results were obtained with the use of contiguous thin sections, in particular for a thickness of 1 mm. Multislice acquisitions of thin sections require minimal technical adjustments.     

基于指数律分布的图像快速盲复原算法

针对现有图像盲复原迭代算法多存在耗时较长和难以保证收敛性等问题,提出一种改进的快速算法.首先根据指数律重建原始图像的频谱,然后利用原始图像和降质图像的频谱关系,采用多方向综合估计方法得到点扩散函数.多方向综合估计方法可降低估计误差,增加算法的稳定性.最后利用得到的点扩散函数和维纳滤波法进行图像重建.与现有算法的对比实验结果表明,针对适合大量成像系统的G类点扩散函数,本算法可以得到更准确的点扩散函数估计,且降低了振铃效应的影响,取得更好的图像复原效果.