Quantitative myocardial perfusion imaging using different autocalibrated parallel acquisition techniques

Purpose To compare three different autocalibrated parallel acquisition techniques (PAT) for quantitative and semiquantitative myocardial perfusion imaging. Materials and Methods Seven healthy volunteers underwent myocardial first-pass perfusion imaging at rest using an SR-TrueFISP pulse sequence without PAT and while using GRAPPA, mSENSE, and TSENSE. signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), normalized upslopes (NUS), and myocardial blood flow (MBF) were calculated. Artifacts, image noise, and overall image quality were qualitatively assessed. Furthermore, the relation between signal intensity (SI) and contrast medium (CM) concentration was determined in phantoms. Results …

Intrahematomal Ultrasound Enhances RtPA-Fibrinolysis in a Porcine Model of Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Catheter-based ultrasound-thrombolysis has been successfully used in a small clinical trial in order to enhance recombinant tissue plasminogen activator (rtPA)-fibrinolysis, for the treatment of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhages (ICHs). The aim of this study was to investigate the ultra-early effects of ultrasound on hematoma and the surrounding brain tissue in a porcine ICH-model. To achieve this, 21 pigs with a right frontal ICH were randomly assigned to four groups: (1) drainage (n = 3), (2) drainage + rtPA (n = 6), (3) drainage + ultrasound (n = 6), and (4) drainage + ultrasound + rtPA (n = 6). The hematoma volume assessment was performed using cranial MRI before and after the treat…

Identification of High-Risk Atypical Meningiomas According to Semantic and Radiomic Features

Up to 60% of atypical meningiomas (World Health Organization (WHO) grade II) reoccur within 5 years after resection. However, no clear radiological criteria exist to identify tumors with higher risk of relapse. In this study, we aimed to assess the association of certain radiomic and semantic features of atypical meningiomas in MRI with tumor recurrence. We identified patients operated on primary atypical meningiomas in our department from 2007 to 2017. An analysis of 13 quantitatively defined radiomic and 11 qualitatively defined semantic criteria was performed based on preoperative MRI scans. Imaging characteristics were assessed along with clinical and survival data. The analysis include…

Longitudinal imaging and evaluation of SAH-associated cerebral large artery vasospasm in mice using micro-CT and angiography

Longitudinal in vivo imaging studies characterizing subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH)-induced large artery vasospasm (LAV) in mice are lacking. We developed a SAH-scoring system to assess SAH severity in mice using micro CT and longitudinally analysed LAV by intravenous digital subtraction angiography (i.v. DSA). Thirty female C57Bl/6J-mice (7 sham, 23 SAH) were implanted with central venous ports for repetitive contrast agent administration. SAH was induced by filament perforation. LAV was assessed up to 14 days after induction of SAH by i.v. DSA. SAH-score and neuroscore showed a highly significant positive correlation (rsp = 0.803, p < 0.001). SAH-score and survival showed a negative sig…

JCB887052 Supplemetal Material - Supplemental material for Longitudinal imaging and evaluation of SAH-associated cerebral large artery vasospasm in mice using micro-CT and angiography

Supplemental material, JCB887052 Supplemetal Material for Longitudinal imaging and evaluation of SAH-associated cerebral large artery vasospasm in mice using micro-CT and angiography by Vanessa Weyer, Máté E Maros, Andrea Kronfeld, Stefanie Kirschner, Christoph Groden, Clemens Sommer, Yasemin Tanyildizi, Martin Kramer and Marc A Brockmann in Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism

Cortex-wide BOLD fMRI activity reflects locally-recorded slow oscillation-associated calcium waves.

When a person is in a deep non-dreaming sleep, neurons in their brain alternate slowly between periods of silence and periods of activity. This gives rise to low-frequency brain rhythms called slow waves, which are thought to help stabilize memories. Slow wave activity can be detected on multiple scales, from the pattern of electrical impulses sent by an individual neuron to the collective activity of the brain’s entire outer layer, the cortex. But does slow wave activity in an individual group of neurons in the cortex affect the activity of the rest of the brain? To find out, Schwalm, Schmid, Wachsmuth et al. took advantage of the fact that slow waves also occur under general anesthesia, a…

Comparison of three accelerated pulse sequences for semiquantitative myocardial perfusion imaging using sensitivity encoding incorporating temporal filtering (TSENSE)

Purpose To investigate the parallel acquisition technique sensitivity encoding incorporating temporal filtering (TSENSE) with three saturation-recovery (SR) prepared pulse sequences (SR turbo fast low-angle shot [SR-TurboFLASH], SR true fast imaging with steady precession [SR-TrueFISP], and SR-prepared segmented echo-planar-imaging [SR-segEPI]) for semiquantitative first-pass myocardial perfusion imaging. Materials and Methods In blood- and tissue-equivalent phantoms the relationship between signal intensity (SI) and contrast-medium concentration was evaluated for the three pulse sequences. In volunteers, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and normalized upslopes (N…

Pharmacokinetics of the cannabinoid receptor ligand [18 F]MK-9470 in the rat brain - Evaluation of models using microPET

PURPOSE The positron emission tomography ligand [18 F]MK-9470 is an inverse agonist that binds reversibly and with high affinity to the cannabinoid type 1 receptor. Due to its slow brain kinetics, care is required in the definition of its dissociation rates from the receptor. The goal of this study was to investigate pharmacokinetic analysis methods using an arterial input function. METHODS Five Sprague-Dawley rats received injections of 13 to 25 MBq of [18 F]MK-9470 and were scanned over a period of 90 min. Arterial blood samples were collected throughout the scan. Data were analyzed using four different compartmental models: a reversible one-tissue model, reversible two tissue models with…

Evaluation of MRI and cannabinoid type 1 receptor PET templates constructed using DARTEL for spatial normalization of rat brains

Purpose: Image registration is one prerequisite for the analysis of brain regions in magnetic-resonance-imaging (MRI) or positron-emission-tomography (PET) studies. Diffeomorphic anatomical registration through exponentiated Lie algebra (DARTEL) is a nonlinear, diffeomorphic algorithm for image registration and construction of image templates. The goal of this small animal study was (1) the evaluation of a MRI and calculation of several cannabinoid type 1 (CB1) receptor PET templates constructed using DARTEL and (2) the analysis of the image registration accuracy of MR and PET images to their DARTEL templates with reference to analytical and iterative PET reconstruction algorithms. Methods:…

Modeling Vestibular Compensation: Neural Plasticity Upon Thalamic Lesion.

The present study in rats was conducted to identify brain regions affected by the interruption of vestibular transmission and to explore selected aspects of their functional connections. We analyzed, by positron emission tomography (PET), the regional cerebral glucose metabolism (rCGM) of cortical, and subcortical cerebral regions processing vestibular signals after an experimental lesion of the left laterodorsal thalamic nucleus, a relay station for vestibular input en route to the cortical circuitry. PET scans upon galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) were conducted in each animal prior to lesion and at post-lesion days (PLD) 1, 3, 7, and 20, and voxel-wise statistical analysis of rCGM a…

Resection of C6 gliomas in rats with the aid of the waterjet technique

While clinically the safety and efficacy of waterjet resection of brain tumors have been shown, evidence that waterjet dissection improves tumor resection radicality in comparison with conventional techniques is still missing. In the present study, resection radicality and tumor-free long-term survival of both techniques were evaluated in a C6-glioma model.Fifty-thousand C6-glioma cells were stereotactically transplanted in the left frontal lobe of 100 male Sprague-Dawley rats. After MRI-scanning for evaluation of tumor extension, microsurgical tumor resection was performed with conventional techniques (n=50) or with the waterjet dissector at pressures of 6bar (n=50). Twenty-five animals of…

Towards a glioma model for surgical technique evaluation in the rat.

Evaluation of new surgical techniques in animal models is frequently challenging. This article describes the pitfalls, peculiarities and the final best applicable model for evaluating surgical techniques for glioma resection.The C6 glioma cell line and the Sprague-Dawley rat strain were selected. Fifty-thousand glioma cells were stereotactically transplanted in the left hemisphere of 137 male adult rats. Evaluation of solid tumour formation, tumour growth and scheduling of surgical resection was performed by MR scanning at 1, 2, and 4 weeks after transplantation and 3 and 6 months after tumour resection. Microsurgical tumour resection was performed with conventional techniques or with the w…

Small animal tumour imaging with MRI and the ECAT EXACT scanner: application of partial volume correction and comparison with microPET data.

Objective Partial volume effects caused by limited spatial resolution of conventional positron emission tomography (PET) scanners result in an underestimation of the activity concentration in small tumours. The aim of the study was to evaluate the feasibility of small animal tumour imaging with the clinical PET scanner ECAT EXACT after partial volume correction based on MRI calculations. The same tumour model was examined additionally with the small animal PET system, microPET focus 120. Methods Before the ECAT EXACT studies recovery coefficients for different sphere volumes were generated with phantom experiments. For the following in-vivo study DS-sarcoma cells were implanted on both hind…

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