Magnetic resonance imaging
-
Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which characterized by distinct biological and clinical pathological features, has a worse prognosis because the lack of effective therapeutic targets. Breast MR is the most accurate imaging modality for diagnosis of breast cancer currently. ⋯ MR findings of a larger solitary lesion, mass with smooth mass margin, high signal intensity on T2-weighted images and rim enhancement are typical MRI features associated with TNBC. Further work is necessary about the clinical application of dynamic contrast-enhanced MR imaging (DCE-MRI), DWI and MRS.
-
To simultaneously acquire the B1(+) magnitude and B1(+) phase, a modified multi-echo actual flip-angle imaging (AFI) sequence is proposed. A multi-echo gradient echo sequence was integrated into every even TR of AFI to measure both magnitude and phase of B1(+). In addition, to increase the signal-to-noise ratio of the B1(+) phase, a double-angle multi-echo AFI sequence, in which the flip-angle of the RF pulses is α at the odd TR and 2α at the even TR is proposed. ⋯ Using the proposed method, B1(+) phase estimation was similar to spin echo phase. In the phantom study, correlation coefficient between the estimated B1(+) phases using the spin echo and the proposed method was 0.9998. The results show that the B1(+) magnitude and B1(+) phase can be simultaneously acquired and accurately estimated using the proposed double-angle AFI method.
-
Controlled Clinical Trial
The value of diffusion-weighted MRI to evaluate the response to radiochemotherapy for cervical cancer.
To investigate the value of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) to predict and monitor the therapy response for cervical cancer patients receiving concurrent radiochemotherapy, and to analyze the influence of different b-value combinations on ADC-based evaluation of treatment response. ⋯ DWI can be used as a predictive and monitoring biomarker of treatment response to radiochemotherapy in patients with cervical cancer. High b-value combination may be more reliable to evaluate the treatment response for cervical cancer.
-
Controlled Clinical Trial
A study on small-world brain functional networks altered by postherpetic neuralgia.
Understanding the effect of postherpetic neuralgia (PHN) pain on brain activity is important for clinical strategies. This is the first study, to our knowledge, to relate PHN pain to small-world properties of brain functional networks. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to construct functional brain networks of the subjects during the resting state. ⋯ Moreover, regional nodal efficiency was found to be significantly affected by PHN pain in the areas related to sense (postcentral gyrus, inferior parietal gyrus and thalamus), memory/affective processes (parahippocampal gyrus) and emotional activities (putamen). Significant correlation (p<0.05) was also found between the nodal efficiency of putamen and pain intensity in PHN patients. Our results suggest that PHN modulates the local efficiency, and the small-world properties of brain networks may have potentials to objectively evaluate pain information in clinic.
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
A comparison of two methods for estimating DCE-MRI parameters via individual and cohort based AIFs in prostate cancer: a step towards practical implementation.
Multi-parametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and specifically Dynamic Contrast Enhanced (DCE) MRI, play increasingly important roles in detection and staging of prostate cancer (PCa). One of the actively investigated approaches to DCE MRI analysis involves pharmacokinetic (PK) modeling to extract quantitative parameters that may be related to microvascular properties of the tissue. It is well-known that the prescribed arterial blood plasma concentration (or Arterial Input Function, AIF) input can have significant effects on the parameters estimated by PK modeling. ⋯ Our results indicate that the choice of the algorithm used for automated image-based AIF determination can lead to significant differences in the values of the estimated PK parameters. K(trans) estimates are more sensitive to the choice between cAIF/iAIF as compared to ve, leading to potentially significant differences depending on the AIF method. These observations may have practical consequences in evaluating the PK analysis results obtained in a multi-site setting.