Application of trans-abdominal chorionic villus sampling in prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal diseases in first trimester of gestation

Objective:To evaluate the feasibility and safety of prenatal diagnosis by traneabdominal chorionic villus sam-pling(TA-CVS)via the guidance of B-mode ultrasound in the first trimester of gestation.To explore the technique of long time culture and chromosome preparation of villi in early pregnancy.To evaluate the feasibility of the above techniques in the application of the prenatal cytogenetic diagnosis.Methods:One hundred and thirty-five singleton pregnancies at risk were referred from January 2001 to Decem-ber 2007.Results:The average maternal age was 35.2 years.TA-CVS was performed in the 10～13th weeks of gestation and the average gestational age was 10.89 weeks.All attempts at sampling were successful.The rate of operation-associated fetal loss was 0.74%.The failure rate of prenatal diagnosis because of inadequate amount of specimen was 0.The average culture time was 5-7 days.The success rate of the cell culture was 98.5%.No maternal con-temination and bacterial contamination happened.Fifteen cases of abnormal karyotype and one case of confined pla-cantel mosaiciem were diagnosed.Conclusion:TA-CVS appears to be safe and feasible and might to be offered in the prenatal diagnosis in the first trimester of gestation.The technique of long time culture and chromosome preparation of villi is stable and reliable.It is feasible to apply these techniques in the clinical practice of prenatal cytogenetic diagnose in the early pregnancy.     

Sodium renal imaging in mice at high magnetic fields.

This work presents the first sodium MRI functional renal study on a mouse model. The tissue sodium concentration was monitored during induced diuresis with furosemide. By using density-weighted chemical shift imaging (DWCSI) at high field strength a temporal resolution of less than 5 min for three dimensional (3D) data sets with high spatial resolution was achieved. A maximum increase of 20% in the cortex and a decrease of 45% of the original signal strength in the medulla were observed. These findings correspond well with experiments conducted on much larger rodent models.     

Parallel imaging reconstruction for arbitrary trajectories using k-space sparse matrices (kSPA).

Although the concept of receiving MR signal using multiple coils simultaneously has been known for over two decades, the technique has only recently become clinically available as a result of the development of several effective parallel imaging reconstruction algorithms. Despite the success of these algorithms, it remains a challenge in many applications to rapidly and reliably reconstruct an image from partially-acquired general non-Cartesian k-space data. Such applications include, for example, three-dimensional (3D) imaging, functional MRI (fMRI), perfusion-weighted imaging, and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), in which a large number of images have to be reconstructed. In this work, a systematic k-space-based reconstruction algorithm based on k-space sparse matrices (kSPA) is introduced. This algorithm formulates the image reconstruction problem as a system of sparse linear equations in k-space. The inversion of this system of equations is achieved by computing a sparse approximate inverse matrix. The algorithm is demonstrated using both simulated and in vivo data, and the resulting image quality is comparable to that of the iterative sensitivity encoding (SENSE) algorithm. The kSPA algorithm is noniterative and the computed sparse approximate inverse can be applied repetitively to reconstruct all subsequent images. This algorithm, therefore, is particularly suitable for the aforementioned applications.     

Analysis of signal-to-noise behavior in Cartesian continuous sampling sequences: predictions and experimental validation of opportunities for improved image SNR.

Image signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) limits many MRI applications. Here we propose a method to improve SNR based on continuous sampling (CS) during each TR without significant increases in acquisition time. The general concept of CS is defined here as sampling the NMR signal immediately after slice excitation including ramp times, both the dephase and rephase lobes, the phase-encoding (PE) gradient application, and the slice refocusing gradient. This study analyzes several cases of CS and demonstrates a specific case where sampling occurs during an isolated and balanced readout gradient in order to increase SNR in a rectilinear Cartesian sequence without significantly increasing overall acquisition time. The noise correlation consequences of rectilinear CS are mathematically derived and proven through simulation. The SNR improvement of up to approximately 40% measured in both phantom and asymptomatic human volunteer images is comparable to theoretical prediction of increased SNR proportional to the increase in the square root of the sampling time.     

Fast method for 1D non-cartesian parallel imaging using GRAPPA.

MRI with non-Cartesian sampling schemes can offer inherent advantages. Radial acquisitions are known to be very robust, even in the case of vast undersampling. This is also true for 1D non-Cartesian MRI, in which the center of k-space is oversampled or at least sampled at the Nyquist rate. There are two main reasons for the more relaxed foldover artifact behavior: First, due to the oversampling of the center, high-energy foldover artifacts originating from the center of k-space are avoided. Second, due to the non-equidistant sampling of k-space, the corresponding field of view (FOV) is no longer well defined. As a result, foldover artifacts are blurred over a broad range and appear less severe. The more relaxed foldover artifact behavior and the densely sampled central k-space make trajectories of this type an ideal complement to autocalibrated parallel MRI (pMRI) techniques, such as generalized autocalibrating partially parallel acquisitions (GRAPPA). Although pMRI can benefit from non-Cartesian trajectories, this combination has not yet entered routine clinical use. One of the main reasons for this is the need for long reconstruction times due to the complex calculations necessary for non-Cartesian pMRI. In this work it is shown that one can significantly reduce the complexity of the calculations by exploiting a few specific properties of k-space-based pMRI.     

In Vivo Skin Penetration of Acitretin in Volunteers Using Three Sampling Techniques

Etretinate and acitretin are given orally to treat psoriasis and various keratinization disorders. Acitretin, the main active metabolite of etretinate, has the pharmacokinetic advantage of being rapidly eliminated, but it shares etretinate's toxicologic profile. Thus a topical delivery of acitretin with no or reduced systemic adverse effects is desirable. To characterize the therapeutic potential of topically delivered acitretin, we quantitatively assessed its percutaneous penetration in healthy human volunteers. Additionally, three skin sampling techniques, the punch biopsy, the shave biopsy, and the suction blister technique, were validated to quantitate acitretin in the skin. The results suggest that topical delivery of acitretin renders skin concentrations which exceed those reported after oral administration of etretinate or acitretin. However, because of possible interlaminate drug contamination, drug localization within a particular skin compartment cannot be determined.     

大气细菌粒子浓度的时间分布特征及最佳采样时间的研究

用ＭＦ－４５型和ＨＴＫ－２０１型空气微生物采样器分别在北京、天津和沈阳三地观测了不同季节和一天中大气细菌粒子的浓度及其变化。结果表明：京、津二地春季大气细菌粒子浓度高，分别为２０５３个／ｍ３和２５５６个／ｍ３；夏季低，分别为９９５个／ｍ３和１０６４个／ｍ３。沈阳秋季大气细菌粒子浓度高，为１０１０８个／ｍ３；冬季低，为１２９４个／ｍ３。一天中，大气细菌粒子浓度呈双峰型变化，６：００～７：００和１８：００时大气细菌粒子浓度高，１１：００～１３：００和１：００～２：００时大气细菌粒子浓度低。根据大气细菌粒子浓度的季节变化和一天中大气细菌粒子浓度的时间分布特征，经过京、津、沈三地一天中分别１２次、８次、６次和４次不同采样时间组合的大气细菌粒子浓度的数理统计分析，大气细菌粒子浓度的监测拟集中在一年冬、春、夏、秋四季的中间月份，即１月、４月、７月、１０月进行；一天中采样８次的时间序列可为７：００、１０：００、１３：００、１６：００、１９：００、２２：００、１：００、４：００一天采样４次的时间序列可为５：００、１１：００、１７：００、２３：００。白天采样４次的时间序列可为春、秋季６：００、９：００、１２：００、１５：００?     

Partial k-space reconstruction in single-shot diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging.

Partial k-space sampling is frequently used in single-shot diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging (DW-EPI) to reduce the TE and thereby improve the SNR. However, it increases the sensitivity of the technique to bulk rotational motion, which introduces a phase gradient across the tissue that shifts the echo in k-space. If the echo is displaced into the high spatial frequencies, conventional homodyne reconstruction fails, causing intensity oscillations across the image. Zero-padding, on the other hand, compromises the image resolution and may cause truncation artifacts. We present an adaptive version of the homodyne algorithm that detects the location of the echo in k-space and adjusts the center and width of the homodyne filters accordingly. The adaptive algorithm produces artifact-free images when the echo is shifted into the high positive k-space range, and reduces to the standard homodyne algorithm in the absence of bulk motion.