Magnetic resonance imaging
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To assess the feasibility and to optimize imaging parameters of diffusion kurtosis imaging (DKI) in human kidneys. ⋯ Our initial results indicate the feasibility of DKI in the human kidney presuming an adequate SNR. Future studies in patients with kidney diseases are required to determine the value of DKI for functional kidney imaging.
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To evaluate the non-Gaussian water diffusion properties of prostate cancer (PCa) and determine the diagnostic performance of diffusion kurtosis (DK) imaging for distinguishing PCa from benign tissues within the peripheral zone (PZ), and assessing tumor lesions with different Gleason scores. ⋯ DK model may add value in PCa detection and diagnosis. K potentially offers a new metric for assessment of PCa.
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Comparative Study
An investigation of motion correction algorithms for pediatric spinal cord DTI in healthy subjects and patients with spinal cord injury.
Patient and physiological motion can cause artifacts in DTI of the spinal cord which can impact image quality and diffusion indices. The purpose of this investigation was to determine a reliable motion correction method for pediatric spinal cord DTI and show effects of motion correction on DTI parameters in healthy subjects and patients with spinal cord injury. Ten healthy subjects and ten subjects with spinal cord injury were scanned using a 3T scanner. ⋯ Blinded evaluation of pre and post correction images showed significant improvement in cord homogeneity and edge conspicuity in corrected images (p<0.0001). The average FA changes were statistically significant (p<0.0001) in the spinal cord injury group, while healthy subjects showed less FA change and were not significant. In both healthy subjects and subjects with spinal cord injury, quantitative and qualitative analysis showed the rigid scaled-least-squares registration technique to be the most reliable and effective in improving image quality.
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Controlled Clinical Trial
Diffusion-weighted echo-planar imaging of the head and neck using 3-T MRI: Investigation into the usefulness of liquid perfluorocarbon pads and choice of optimal fat suppression method.
To investigate whether image quality can be improved using liquid perfluorocarbon pads (Sat Pad) and clarify the optimal fat-suppression method among chemical shift selective (CHESS), water excitation (WEX), and short TI inversion recovery (STIR) methods in diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of the head and neck using 3-T magnetic resonance imaging. Correlations between results of visual inspection and quantitative analysis were also examined. ⋯ Combining Sat Pad with STIR provides good image quality for visual inspections. When numerous artifacts are present and fat suppression is insufficient, higher SNR and CNR do not always provide good diagnostic image quality.
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Vascular grafting frequently involves a time-consuming operation. A new vascular coupling device (VCD) made from metallic material was recently developed that may be advantageous because of the reduced operative time and decreased patient risks. Because of the metal, there are safety concerns related to MRI. Therefore, the purpose of this investigation was to use standardized testing techniques to evaluate MRI issues for this VCD in association with a 3-Tesla MR system. ⋯ The metallic VCD that underwent evaluation is MR conditional for a patient undergoing an MRI procedure at 3-Tesla or less.