European journal of radiology
-
The objective of this work is to design, examine and apply an eight channel transmit/receive coil array tailored for cardiac magnetic resonance imaging at 7.0 T that provides image quality suitable for clinical use, patient comfort, and ease of use. The cardiac coil array was designed to consist of a planar posterior section and a modestly curved anterior section. For radio frequency (RF) safety validation, numerical computations of the electromagnetic field (EMF) and the specific absorption rate (SAR) distribution were conducted. ⋯ For un-accelerated 2D CINE FLASH acquisitions the results revealed an SNR of approximately 140 for the left ventricular blood pool. Blood/myocardium contrast was found to be approximately 90 for un-accelerated 2D CINE FLASH acquisitions. The proposed 8 channel cardiac transceiver surface coil has the capability to acquire high contrast, high spatial and temporal resolution in vivo images of the heart at 7.0 T.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A novel Laser Navigation System reduces radiation exposure and improves accuracy and workflow of CT-guided spinal interventions: a prospective, randomized, controlled, clinical trial in comparison to conventional freehand puncture.
Phantom model evaluation and prospective randomized clinical trial to assess the clinical feasibility and benefit of using a novel Laser Navigation System (LNS) in CT-guided epidural and perineural injections in comparison to the conventional freehand procedure. ⋯ The LNS group showed significantly improved results in both study designs. Both the phantom model evaluation and the clinical trial of spinal injections showed feasibility and efficacy of using the novel LNS. Even an experienced interventional team worked with it more precise, faster and with reduced radiation exposure.
-
We compared the diagnostic performance of T1ρ and T2 mappings in the evaluation of denatured articular cartilage with osteoarthritis of the knee. ⋯ T1ρ mapping is superior to T2 mapping for the evaluation of denatured articular cartilage with osteoarthritis of the knee.
-
To assess the role of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) measured with diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) in predicting and assessing response of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). ⋯ This preliminary data suggests that pre-TACE tumor ADC can be used to predict HCC response to TACE.
-
Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is a common and disabling disease worldwide. Its prevalence is increasing in view of the aging population. Changes in collagen content, its orientation and GAG content in the articular cartilage with age are the major features in knee osteoarthritis. These changes in collagen and GAG contents show no manifestation in plain radiography and conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Nevertheless, early diagnosis of the knee osteoarthritis is of paramount importance clinically in view of the evolution of putative interventions in its early stage. The aim of this project is to identify the relationships between the two imaging biomarkers (i.e. T1ρ and T2 mappings) and the GAG concentration in living human symptomatic cartilage. ⋯ This in vivo study confirmed that T1ρ and T2 values correlate with the GAG concentration in living human knee cartilages which corroborate with the previous works. The later (T2 values) is found more reliable in our study and less controversial in literatures. We postulate that T2 values can serve as a non-invasive imaging biomarker in the progress of knee osteoarthritis in terms of both disease diagnosis and treatment response monitoring.