Simultaneous multi‐slice spin‐ and gradient‐echo dynamic susceptibility‐contrast perfusion‐weighted MRI of gliomas

Although combined spin‐ and gradient‐echo (SAGE) dynamic susceptibility‐contrast (DSC) MRI can provide perfusion quantification that is sensitive to both macrovessels and microvessels while correcting for T₁‐shortening effects, spatial coverage is often limited in order to maintain a high temporal resolution for DSC quantification. In this work, we combined a SAGE echo‐planar imaging (EPI) sequence with simultaneous multi‐slice (SMS) excitation and blipped controlled aliasing in parallel imaging (blipped CAIPI) at 3 T to achieve both high temporal resolution and whole brain coverage. Two protocols using this sequence with multi‐band (MB) acceleration factors of 2 and 3 were evaluated in 20 patients with treated gliomas to determine the optimal scan parameters for clinical use. ΔR₂*(t) and ΔR₂(t) curves were derived to calculate dynamic signal‐to‐noise ratio (dSNR), ΔR₂*‐ and ΔR₂‐based relative cerebral blood volume (rCBV), and mean vessel diameter (mVD) for each voxel. The resulting SAGE DSC images acquired using MB acceleration of 3 versus 2 appeared visually similar in terms of image distortion and contrast. The difference in the mean dSNR from normal‐appearing white matter (NAWM) and that in the mean dSNR between NAWM and normal‐appearing gray matter were not statistically significant between the two protocols. ΔR₂*‐ and ΔR₂‐rCBV maps and mVD maps provided unique contrast and spatial heterogeneity within tumors.     

离心机模拟连续推拉动作训练方法研究

目的建立贴近实战化训练模式的连续推拉动作(PPM)离心机训练方法。方法调研提炼飞行训练中典型的PPM载荷参数,编制离心机模拟连续PPM曲线。16名战斗机飞行员作为志愿者,A组6名,采用-1Gz/3s→+6Gz/10s→2Gz/10s→0Gz/3s→+4.5Gz/10s→2Gz/10s→0.5Gz/3s→+5 Gz/10s连续PPM曲线,B组10名,采用-1Gz/3s→+6Gz/10s→2Gz/10s→0Gz/3s→+4.5Gz/10s→2Gz/10s→-1Gz/3s→+7Gz/5s连续PPM曲线(根据A组建议对曲线进行了改进),进行了HP动作对抗连续PPM离心机训练。志愿者在相对-Gz(小于+1Gz)暴露时采用HP动作的呼吸方式,在向+Gz转换时开始做较用力的HP动作,记录分析+Gz耐力、心率(HR)等指标的变化。结果A组6名志愿者均完成了连续PPM离心机训练,对PPM曲线提出了改进建议。B组9名志愿者采用改进的连续PPM曲线完成离心机训练。两组在相对-Gz时的HR均显著高于安静状态(P<0.05),连续PPM暴露时的HR变化趋势说明心血管调节有持续效应,其适应负荷有滞后。结论建立了高性能战斗机飞行员连续PPM离心机训练方法,模拟连续PPM曲线中不同水平-Gz与+Gz交替作用的模式更能体现实战化训练中长时间反复空战的特点,将应用于后续飞行员离心机训练。     

Accelerations relevant to blunt trauma: theory and data

Maximum acceleration and the Head Injury Criterion (HIC) are both used as indicators of likely head injury severity. A dataset has previously been published of impacts of an instrumented missile on four ground surfaces having a layer of between 0 and 16 cm of sand. The dataset is compared with recently-developed theory that predicts power-function dependence of maximum acceleration and HIC on drop height. That prediction was supported by the data. The surfaces differed in respect of the exponents estimated.     

3D variable‐density SPARKLING trajectories for high‐resolution T2*‐weighted magnetic resonance imaging

We have recently proposed a new optimization algorithm called SPARKLING (Spreading Projection Algorithm for Rapid K‐space sampLING) to design efficient compressive sampling patterns for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This method has a few advantages over conventional non‐Cartesian trajectories such as radial lines or spirals: i) it allows to sample the k‐space along any arbitrary density while the other two are restricted to radial densities and ii) it optimizes the gradient waveforms for a given readout time. Here, we introduce an extension of the SPARKLING method for 3D imaging by considering both stacks‐of‐SPARKLING and fully 3D SPARKLING trajectories. Our method allowed to achieve an isotropic resolution of 600 μm in just 45 seconds for T2? ‐weighted ex vivo brain imaging at 7 Tesla over a field‐of‐view of 200 × 200 × 140 mm³ . Preliminary in vivo human brain data shows that a stack‐of‐SPARKLING is less subject to off‐resonance artifacts than a stack‐of‐spirals.     

Motion‐compensated b‐tensor encoding for in vivo cardiac diffusion‐weighted imaging

Motion is a major confound in diffusion‐weighted imaging (DWI) in the body, and it is a common cause of image artefacts. The effects are particularly severe in cardiac applications, due to the nonrigid cyclical deformation of the myocardium. Spin echo‐based DWI commonly employs gradient moment‐nulling techniques to desensitise the acquisition to velocity and acceleration, ie, nulling gradient moments up to the 2nd order (M2‐nulled). However, current M2‐nulled DWI scans are limited to encode diffusion along a single direction at a time. We propose a method for designing b‐tensors of arbitrary shapes, including planar, spherical, prolate and oblate tensors, while nulling gradient moments up to the 2nd order and beyond. The design strategy comprises initialising the diffusion encoding gradients in two encoding blocks about the refocusing pulse, followed by appropriate scaling and rotation, which further enables nulling undesired effects of concomitant gradients. Proof‐of‐concept assessment of in vivo mean diffusivity (MD) was performed using linear and spherical tensor encoding (LTE and STE, respectively) in the hearts of five healthy volunteers. The results of the M2‐nulled STE showed that (a) the sequence was robust to cardiac motion, and (b) MD was higher than that acquired using standard M2‐nulled LTE, where diffusion‐weighting was applied in three orthogonal directions, which may be attributed to the presence of restricted diffusion and microscopic diffusion anisotropy. Provided adequate signal‐to‐noise ratio, STE could significantly shorten estimation of MD compared with the conventional LTE approach. Importantly, our theoretical analysis and the proposed gradient waveform design may be useful in microstructure imaging beyond diffusion tensor imaging where the effects of motion must be suppressed.     

MRI temporal acceleration techniques

In recent years, there has been an explosive growth of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques that allow faster scan speed by exploiting temporal or spatiotemporal redundancy of the images. These techniques improve the performance of dynamic imaging significantly across multiple clinical applications, including cardiac functional examinations, perfusion imaging, blood flow assessment, contrast‐enhanced angiography, functional MRI, and interventional imaging, among others. The scan acceleration permits higher spatial resolution, increased temporal resolution, shorter scan duration, or a combination of these benefits. Along with the exciting developments is a dizzying proliferation of acronyms and variations of the techniques. The present review attempts to summarize this rapidly growing topic and presents conceptual frameworks to understand these techniques in terms of their underlying mechanics and connections. Techniques from view sharing, keyhole, k‐t, to compressed sensing are covered. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2012;36:543–560. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.