应用相控阵线圈进行MRI食管高分辨成像的序列优化的研究

目的优化高场强MRI相控阵线圈的食管高分辨成像参数。方法应用相控阵线圈,对健康志愿者进行食管成像。扫描T2WI,改变呼吸门控、心电门控、视野(FOV)、矩阵、层厚、激励次数(NEX),对不同成像参数下的图像质量、解剖结构显示情况进行评分。结果当应用心电门控,主要参数FOV=18cm、矩阵=288×288、层厚=3mm、NEX=4时可获得良好的图像质量,很好地显示重要的解剖结构,并且扫描时间合理可接受。结论通过本实验优化的参数,MRI食管高分辨成像可为食管癌的影像诊断提供帮助。     

前瞻性心电门控技术在双源CT冠状动脉成像中的应用价值

目的:比较双源CT冠状动脉成像(CTCA)前瞻性心电门控与回顾性心电门控扫描的辐射剂量及图像质量。方法:以相同纳入标准,选取50例行前瞻性心电门控扫描的患者作为前瞻门控组,另选取50例行回顾性心电门控的患者作为回顾门控组。由两名CT医师分别对两组CTCA图像进行评估。记录并比较两组患者一般临床资料、辐射剂量及图像质量评分。结果:两组患者性别、年龄、体重指数、平均心率、心率波动、扫描范围差异均无统计学意义(P>0.05)。前瞻门控组有效辐射剂量(3.80±0.46)mSv,回顾门控组有效辐射剂量(20.64±3.14)mSv,两组差异具有统计学意义(P<0.001)。两组图像质量的差异无统计学意义(2=1.166,P=0.761)。结论:前瞻性心电门控较回顾性心电门控技术能够在保证图像质量的同时明显降低辐射剂量。     

前瞻性与回顾性门控扫描模式对于减少X线剂量的对比研究

目的 采用前瞻性与回顾性门控两种技术行心脏CT血管造影(CTA),探寻减少冠状动脉血管成像有效射线剂量的方法.资料与方法将202例临床怀疑冠心病患者随机均分为两组,在120 kV的管电压下,一组采用回顾性心电门控技术,另一组采用前瞻性心电门控步进与单期采集技术行冠状动脉CTA,计数两组冠状动脉图像质量的分值,比较两组获取有效图像质量的最低射线剂量,并进行成组t检验、卡方检验及方差分析.结果 120 kV管电压下,前瞻性心电门控比回顾性心电门控技术的有效成像射线剂量低82.3%(差值=14.626,95%CI=11.768-17.484,P=0.0001).结论 与回顾性心电门控技术相比,120 kV管电压下对心率≤65次/min、律齐的患者行前瞻性心电门控冠状动脉CTA可以显著减少有效射线剂量.     

3.0T磁共振乳腺成像扫描参数的优化

目的 探讨不同参数对乳腺MRI图像质量及扫描时间的影响.方法 (1)采用GE Signa Excite 3.0T MR成像系统和8通道乳腺线圈,对3个新鲜手术乳腺标本进行多序列、多参数扫描,根据图像质量及扫描时间选择适合乳腺MR成像的扫描序列和参数.(2)对10名健康志愿者采用FSE-IR、抑脂和非抑脂 FSE-XL T1WI和抑脂FSE-XL T2WI序列及不同参数进行乳腺MR成像,测量比较不同参数图像的信噪比.结果 其它参数相同时,采用以下序列和参数进行乳腺MR成像可在较短的扫描时间内获得较高的图像质量,包括FSE-IR序列:TR 6000 ms、TI 190 ms、TE 42 ms、带宽62.50 kHz、NEX 1、扫描层数18;FSE-XL T1WI序列:TR 500 ms、TE 11.5 ms、带宽50 kHz、NEX 2、扫描层数18;FSE-XL T2WI序列:TR 4200 ms、TE 80 ms、带宽41.67 kHz、NEX 1、扫描层数18.结论 3.0T MR乳腺成像,通过扫描参数的优化可节约扫描时间、提高图像质量.     

高流量吸氧对冠状动脉成像质量的影响

目的 比较高流量吸氧与正常呼吸状态下CT冠状动脉成像质量的差异,探讨高流量吸氧对CT冠状动脉成像质量的影响。资料与方法 132例患者采用Philips 256 CT行CT冠状动脉成像,其中71例给予高流量吸氧,61例正常呼吸。采用AW 4.4工作站行后处理冠状动脉血管重建。比较两组前瞻性心电门控完成扫描比例及图像的信噪比、对比噪声比和冠状动脉各节段图像质量评分。结果 给予高流量吸氧患者的前瞻性心电门控完成扫描比例及图像质量评分明显高于正常呼吸者(P<0.05),但两组图像信噪比及对比噪声比差异无统计学意义(P>0.05)。结论高流量吸氧可以在降低患者受辐射剂量的同时提高CT冠状动脉成像的质量,该方法简单易行,值得临床推广使用。     

恶性胸膜间皮瘤的MRI

恶性胸膜间皮瘤少见,作者报告三例MR检查,其中2例经病理或细胞学证实。采用SE技术,每例均用呼吸补偿和心电门控作冠状面T_1加权象,TE20ms,TR600ms,层厚10mm,间隔1.5～10mm。1例还作了轴位T_1加权象,TE20ms,TR706ms。另2例用心电门控作了轴位质子密度象和T_2加权象,TE为20和80ms,TR为2000和2250ms,矩阵为256×128。所有病例MR均表现为     

前瞻性与回顾性心电门控技术256层CT 冠状动脉支架成像质量的对比研究

目的：比较前瞻性和回顾性心电门控技术在256层 CT 冠状动脉支架成像的图像质量及剂量中的价值。方法回顾性分析161例临床冠心病支架术后256层 CT 冠状动脉成像在稳定心率情况下,成像质量将前瞻性心电门控、回顾性心电门控扫描病例分2组。图像质量分为优、良、一般、差4等级,对其结果进行对比,并对比2种门控辐射剂量差异。结果161例中,87例(158枚支架)前瞻性心电门控,74例(159枚支架)回顾性心电门控。优秀图像分别为30例(34.5%)、9例(12.2%)(χ2=10.853,P =0.001);良好图像分别为45例(51.7%)、41例(55.4%)(χ2=0.218,P=0.641);一般图像分别为12例(13.8%)、21例(28.4%)(χ2=5.22,P =0.022);较差图像分别为0例(0.0%)、3例(4.0%)(χ2=1.719,P=0.190)。前瞻性和回顾性电门控辐射剂量分别为5.3074 mSv、17.564 mSv(z =-10.919,P =0.001)。前瞻性心电门控辐射剂量较回顾性心电门控辐射低约69.8%。结论在稳定心率情况下,前瞻性心电门控图像质量优于回顾性心电门控,而且射线剂量明显减小。     

心电门控螺旋CT扫描对肺影像质量的影响

心电门控技术已广泛应用于冠状动脉疾病的影像学检查中.在肺部,心电门控技术可改善心脏搏动所致的肺部伪影,同时,心电门控技术扫描对气道容积成像的影像质量亦有影响.就心电门控扫描技术对肺部影像质量的影响作一综述.     

肝脏多b值扩散心率因素的评价

目的:评价心电门控技术心率因素对肝脏体素内不相干运动成像(IVIM)图像质量及参数值的影响.方法:选取20名接受心电门控IVIM DWI序列扫描的志愿者,设定6个b值(范围0,50,100,150,300,600s/mm2),按受检者心率分为2组,每组10例,实验组受检者心率≤70次/分,对照组受检者心率≥80次/分.由两名从事腹部MR影像诊断5年以上的高年资医师对所得MR图像进行分析,测量并分析图像SNR、ADC、IVIM各参数值,并对IVIM-DWI图像质量进行评价.结果:实验组所得图像伪影最少,解剖结构清晰,图像质量较高,不同b值时实验组SNR值均大于对照组,两组间差异有统计学意义(P＜0.05).两组ADC、D、D*、f值中,仅肝左叶的ADC值[实验组(1.432±0.299)×10-3mm2/s;对照组(1.945±0.543)×10-3 mm2/s]和D值[实验组(1.372±0.378)×10-3mm2/s;对照组(1.617±0.361)×10-3mm2/s]在两组间的差异有统计学意义(P值分别为0.000、0.013).结论:肝脏IVIM心电门控成像技术具有重要的临床价值,低心率心电门控IVIM DWI成像可得到较好的图像质量和稳定可靠的参数值.     

64排螺旋CT冠状动脉成像的前瞻性与回顾性心电门控技术的图像质量及辐射剂量的比较研究

目的 研究前瞻性心电门控触发(prospective ECG-triggering)与回顾性心电门控(retrosp-ective ECG gating)两种技术方法行冠状动脉CTA检查时,对冠状动脉图像质量及辐射剂量的比较.方法 33名疑似冠状动脉疾病的患者分两组进行对比研究.前瞻组16例为前瞻性心电门控成像,心率小于65次/min;回顾组17例为回顾性心电门控成像,心率小于75次/min.记录两组的辐射剂量并统计分析,同时进行图像质量评价.结果 两组图像质量比较,差异无统计学意义(P0.05).前瞻性心电门控冠状动脉CTA的平均DLP 234.4 mGy·cm,占回顾性心电门控冠状动脉CTA的平均DLP 974.4 mGy·cm的24.1%.前瞻性心电门控冠状动脉CTA的患者的平均有效剂量为3.2 mSy,回顾心电门控冠状动脉CTA患者的为13.6 mSv,降低76.47%.结论 64排螺旋CT在前瞻性心电门控冠状动脉CTA与回顾性心电门控冠状动脉CTA比较可以获得相似的图像质量,可大幅降低患者的有效剂量对于不能接受高辐射剂量且心率较低的受检人群具有重要的临床价值.     

Functional magnetic resonance imaging of the human brain based on signal enhancement by extravascular protons (SEEP fMRI).

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies of the human brain were carried out at 3 Tesla to investigate an fMRI contrast mechanism that does not arise from the blood oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) effect. This contrast mechanism, signal enhancement by extravascular protons (SEEP), involves only proton-density changes and was recently demonstrated to contribute to fMRI signal changes in the spinal cord. In the present study it is hypothesized that SEEP fMRI can be used to identify areas of neuronal activity in the brain with as much sensitivity and precision as can be achieved with BOLD fMRI. A detailed analysis of the areas of activity, signal intensity time courses, and the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), is also presented and compared with the BOLD fMRI results. Experiments were carried out with subjects performing a simple finger-touching task, or observing an alternating checkerboard pattern. Data were acquired using a conventional BOLD fMRI method (gradient-echo (GE) EPI, TE = 30 ms), a conventional method with reduced BOLD sensitivity (GE-EPI, TE = 12 ms), and SEEP fMRI (spin-echo (SE) EPI, TE = 22 ms). The results of this study demonstrate that SEEP fMRI may provide better spatial localization of areas of neuronal activity, and a higher CNR than conventional BOLD fMRI, and has the added benefit of lower sensitivity to field inhomogeneities.     

Extravascular proton-density changes as a non-BOLD component of contrast in fMRI of the human spinal cord.

The fractional signal intensity change (Delta S/S) observed during activation in T(2)-weighted fMRI of the spinal cord has previously been shown to depend linearly on the echo time (TE) but to have a positive value of roughly 2.5% extrapolated to zero TE. In this study we investigated the origin of this finding by measuring the Delta S/S in spinal fMRI with very short TEs. Our results demonstrate that the Delta S/S does not approach zero, but has a value as high as 3.3% at TE = 11 ms. At TEs > 33 ms we observed the linear relationship between Delta S/S and TE as in previous studies. These data demonstrate that there is a non-BOLD contribution to signal changes observed in spinal fMRI. We hypothesize that this contribution is a local proton density increase due to increased water exudation from capillaries with increased blood flow during neuronal activation, and term this effect "signal enhancement by extravascular protons" (SEEP).     

MR imaging of intracranial hemorrhage in neonates and infants at 2.35 Tesla

Summary The variations of the relative signal intensity and the time dependent changing contrast of intracranial hemorrhages on high-field spin-echo magnetic resonance images (MRI) were studied in 28 pediatric patients. For T1-weighted images, a repetition time (TR) of 500 ms and an echo time (TE) of 30 or 23 ms was used. The corresponding times for T2-weighted images were TR 3000 ms and TE 120 ms. Intracranial hematomas, less than 3 days old, were iso- to mildly hypointense on short TR/TE scans and markedly hypointense on long TR/TE scans (acute stage). In the following four days the signal of the hematomas became hyperintense on short TR/TE scans, beginning in the periphery and proceeding towards the center. On long TR/TE scans the signal remained markedly hypointense (early subacute stage). 7–14 days old hematomas were of high signal intensity on short TR/TE scans. On long TR/TE scans they appeared hypointense in the center and hyperintense in the periphery (late subacute stage). By the end of the second week the hematomas were of high signal intensity on all pulse sequences (chronic stage). Chronic hematomas were surrounded by a parenchymal rim of hypointensity on long TR/TE scans. 28 neonates and infants (with 11 follow-up examinations) of 31.5–70.6 weeks postconceptional age (PCA), with an intracranial hemorrhage were examined. The etiologies of the hemorrhages were: asphyxia (17 cases), brain infarct (2), thrombocytopenia (1), clotting disorder (1) and unknown origin (7). The aim of this study was to describe the appearance of intracranial hemorrhages inneonates and infants with MRI at2.35 Tesla using spine-cho sequences.     

Image technique optimization in MR imaging of a titanium alloy joint prosthesis

The purpose of this study was to explore systematically the effect of the imaging parameters changeable by the user in spin-echo (SE) imaging sequences to minimize image distortion when imaging joint prostheses. A titanium alloy hip joint prosthesis was studied at 1.0 T. The SE imaging parameters were bandwidth/pixel (BW/p), TE, strength of encoding gradients (matrix size), echo train length (ETL), and direction of phase and frequency encoding. The effect of ETL in rapid acquisition relaxation enhanced (RARE) sequences was also evaluated with a turbo-SE sequence using a different ETL with the same TR and an effective TE. It is concluded that an optimized image quality can be achieved in SE imaging by using a high bandwidth/pixel value (at least 130 Hz/pixel), a high resolution matrix (256–512), sequences with multiple refocusing, and a frequency-encoding axis parallel to the long axis of the prosthesis. The degree of distortion is reduced with this optimized technique.     

Free-breathing renal magnetic resonance angiography with steady-state free-precession and slab-selective spin inversion combined with radial k-space sampling and water-selective excitation.

The impact of radial k-space sampling and water-selective excitation on a novel navigator-gated cardiac-triggered slab-selective inversion prepared 3D steady-state free-precession (SSFP) renal MR angiography (MRA) sequence was investigated. Renal MRA was performed on a 1.5-T MR system using three inversion prepared SSFP approaches: Cartesian (TR/TE: 5.7/2.8 ms, FA: 85 degrees), radial (TR/TE: 5.5/2.7 ms, FA: 85 degrees) SSFP, and radial SSFP combined with water-selective excitation (TR/TE: 9.9/4.9 ms, FA: 85 degrees). Radial data acquisition lead to significantly reduced motion artifacts (P < 0.05). SNR and CNR were best using Cartesian SSFP (P < 0.05). Vessel sharpness and vessel length were comparable in all sequences. The addition of a water-selective excitation could not improve image quality. In conclusion, radial k-space sampling reduces motion artifacts significantly in slab-selective inversion prepared renal MRA, while SNR and CNR are decreased. The addition of water-selective excitation could not improve the lower CNR in radial scanning.     

Flow velocity of the cortical vein and its effect on functional brain MRI at 1.5t: Preliminary results by Cine-MR venography

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the effect of altering flow velocity of cerebral cortical veins as the source of the signal change observed in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain. 10 healthy volunteers were examined after instructions in self-paced hand grasping. Experiments were performed using a 1.5-Tesla whole body MR scanner with a conventional two-dimensional gradient echo sequence (TR/TE/flip angle 400/60/40, first order flow rephased, reduced band width 8 Hz/pixel). Flow velocity measurements were performed for the cortical veins which corresponded to the activated areas depicted on fMRI. Velocity was estimated from the cine-MR venography (cine-MRV) with a tagging technique. Flow phantom studies were performed to delineate the effect of flow velocity differences upon the subtraction images of fMRI. The cine-MRV revealed increased flow velocity of the cortical veins during activation in seven volunteers, with a mean velocity difference of 15 mm/sec. Flow phantom studies suggested that the increased flow velocity may result in changes of the flow signal profile due to oblique flow displacement. Subtraction of the two images with different flow profiles produces flow signal enhancement. Increased flow velocity of the cortical veins during the activation is an important factor which contributes to the signal of fMRI.     

FLAIR主要技术参数的实验性研究

目的探讨磁共振成像的FLAIR主要参数与抑制效果的关系。方法实验在0.5T磁共振机上进行配制不同物态、浓度的蛋白质溶液,采用试管模拟扫描试验法及不同的参数进行FLAIR扫描,通过比较筛选出最佳扫描参数,分析总结其相关性。结果FLAIR的最佳技术参数为:TR=4000～5000ms,TE=90～100ms,TI=1800～2000ms。结论TI是决定抑制效果的关键参数,TR、TE仅决定扫描时间和扫描层数。FLAIR抑制效果稳定,能估测蛋白质溶液中的蛋白含量。     

Theoretical and experimental investigation of the VASO contrast mechanism.

Vascular space occupancy (VASO)-dependent functional MRI (fMRI) is a blood-nulling technique capable of generating microvascular cerebral blood volume (CBV)-weighted images. It is shown that at high magnetic field (3.0T) and high spatial resolution (1.89 x 1.89 x 3 mm(3)), the VASO signal changes are too large (6-7%) to originate from CBV effects alone. Additional contributions are investigated theoretically and experimentally as a function of MRI parameters (TR and TE), as well as the signal-to-noise ratio, (SNR) and spatial resolution. First, it is found that an arterial spin labeling (ASL) contribution causes large negative VASO signal changes at short TR. Second, even at high fMRI spatial resolution, CSF volume contributions (7-13%) cause VASO signal changes to become more negative, most noticeably at long TR and TE. Third, white matter (WM) effects reduce signal changes at lower spatial resolution. The VASO technique has been tested using different stimulus paradigms and field strengths (1-3), giving results consistent with comparable tasks investigated using BOLD and cerebral blood flow (CBF)-based techniques. Finally, simulations show that a mixture of fresh and steady-state blood may significantly alter signal changes at short TR (< or =3 s), permitting larger VASO signal changes than expected under pure steady-state conditions. Thus, many competing effects contribute to VASO contrast and care should be taken during interpretation.     

ESWAN序列参数对出血性剪切灶及脑静脉显示的影响和分析

目的研究多回波采集的增强T2*加权血管成像(ESWAN)序列的TR和TE参数对磁敏感效应的影响;调整更适合出血性剪切灶检出的ESWAN序列参数。资料与方法 10例弥漫性轴索损伤(DAI)患者经两种不同参数设置的ESWAN序列(两种序列的参数区别在于:短TE的ESWAN序列的首个回波TE 10 ms,TR 77 ms;长TE的ESWAN序列的首个回波TE 48 ms,TR 104 ms)扫描获得两组ESWAN图像,经后处理得到两组幅度图,将幅度图行最小强度投影(MinIP)后在两组图像上分别计数出血灶的数目、测量出血灶的容积,在三脑室上部及室间孔层面对显影的脑深部静脉计数。用配对t检验的方法检验两组数据的差异性。结果两组图像显示的微出血灶的数量及分布完全一致;长TE的ESWAN序列测量的微出血灶容积显著大于短TE的ESWAN序列;长TE的ESWAN序列显示的脑深部静脉数量明显多于短TE的ESWAN序列。结论 ESWAN序列的多回波采集优势,即使明显缩短首个回波的TE,后续的回波仍能保障对微出血灶检出的磁敏感效应;随着TE的延长,显影的静脉数量明显增多,但模糊效应也逐步放大,出血灶容积的放大比例也增加。对于脑外伤...     

MR imaging of peripheral cholangiocarcinoma.

A prospective study was performed to compare MR spin-echo (SE) sequences [repetition time/echo time (TR/TE) 2,000/80, 500/44 ms], unenhanced CT, and rapid intravenous contrast enhanced CT in eight consecutive patients with peripheral cholangiocarcinoma. All the tumors (ranging from 5 to 9.6 cm in size) were detected with all four techniques. Tumor contrast, however, was qualitatively greatest on long TR/TE SE images. With long TR/TE SE images, tumors were demonstrated as well-demarcated homogeneous regions of high signal intensity, and the anatomic relations between tumors and intrahepatic blood vessels were easily perceived. Detection of small intrahepatic metastatic foci was best on long TR/TE images. Tumor invasion of the portal vein's branches was also best seen on long TR/TE SE images. These results indicate that long TR/TE SE sequence is the most effective initial screening method in demonstrating the presence and determining resectability of peripheral cholangiocarcinoma.