Weijuan Zhang^1,2, Penny L. Hubbard^1,2, Eva Bondesson³, Lars Wigström⁴, Simon S. Young⁵, David Singh⁶, Josephine H. Naish^1,2, and Geoffrey J. M. Parker^1,2
1Centre of Imaging Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, ²Biomedical Imaging Institute, The University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, ³Camurus AB, Lund, Sweden, ⁴Respiratory &Inflammation Therapy, Clinical development, AstraZeneca, Mölndal, Sweden, ⁵Personalised Healthcare and Biomarkers, AstraZeneca, Alderley Park, United Kingdom, ⁶Medicines Evaluation Unit, University Hospital of South Manchester Foundation Trust, Manchester, United Kingdom

This study demonstrated a good correlation between MRI equilibrium signal maps and CT measurements in the estimation of lung density in COPD.

Thomas Gaass¹, Grzegorz Bauman^2,3, Julien Dinkel^4,5, Axel Haase¹, and Christian Hintze^6
1Zentralinstitut für Medizintechnik, Technische Universität München, Garching, Germany, ²Department of Medical Physics, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany, ³Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, United States, ⁴Department of Radiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany, ⁵Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, ⁶Diagnostische Radiologie, Universitätsklinikum Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany

The presented work aims to compare maps of the fractional pulmonary blood volume (fPBV) generated using the Two-Compartment Inversion Recovery (TCIR) method to the clinical reference standard single photon emission computed tomography/computed tomography (SPECT/CT) in an animal experiment. For the assessment of the performance of TCIR seven anesthetized pigs were studied via CT, as well as dynamic contrast enhanced MRI and SPECT. This animal experiment demonstrated a qualitative agreement in the assessment of blood distribution between contrast agent free TCIR and DCE MRI and conventional SPECT/CT.

Janet Friedrich¹, Daniel Feldmann², Lars Krenkel², Claus Wagner², and Laura Maria Schreiber^1
1Department of Radiology, Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany, ²Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology, German Aerospace Center, Göttingen, Germany

The aim of the current study is the development of MRI methods that enable the investigation of gas flow mechanisms during high frequency oscillatory ventilation. This work includes flow measurements during three constant flows (19.9, 30.6 and 41.4 L min^-1) and the comparison to direct numerical simulations (DNS) using a second-order-acurate finite-volume method and to data measured with a volume flow meter. ¹⁹F-MRI, DNS and flow meter data are in good agreement. Flow measurements during HFOV of 4 Hz were successfully performed and velocity profiles could be recorded at different phases of the ventilation cycle.

Alexandra R. Morgan^1,2, Geoff J. M. Parker^1,2, Penny L. Hubbard¹, Weijuan Zhang¹, David Singh³, Jørgen Vestbo³, Simon S. Young⁴, Lars Wigström⁵, Marietta L.J. Scott⁴, and Josephine H. Naish^1
1Centre for Imaging Sciences, Biomedical Imaging Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, ²BiOxyDyn Ltd, Manchester, United Kingdom, ³Airway Pharmacology Group, School of Translational Medicine, University Hospital of South Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, ⁴AstraZeneca, Alderley Park, Macclesfield, United Kingdom, ⁵AstraZeneca, Mölndal, Sweden

Proton MRI methods calculating regional strain, compliance and motion in the lung were applied in a reproducibility study in a cohort of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) patients and healthy volunteers. Correlation with computed tomography and spirometry was also investigated. Significant differences between patients and healthy volunteers were observed, as well as fair inter-visit reproducibility. Significant correlation of compliance and strain with gold standard measures was shown, suggesting clinically useful observations can be made using these methods.

Alexandra R. Morgan^1,2, Geoff J. M. Parker^1,2, Marietta L.J. Scott³, and Josephine H. Naish^1
1Centre for Imaging Sciences, Biomedical Imaging Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, United Kingdom, ²BiOxyDyn Ltd, Manchester, United Kingdom,³AstraZeneca, Alderley Park, Macclesfield, United Kingdom

Mechanical properties of the lung, such as tissue compliance, become altered in disease. These are difficult to assess on a regional level using traditional methods, such as lung function tests or computed tomography. We present a method to calculate regional tissue motion and strain in 3D using magnetic resonance imaging in conjunction with finite-element image registration techniques. Preliminary results in healthy volunteers are presented suggesting further studies are warranted to assess potential use of these methods in the evaluation of lung disease, such as emphysema and fibrosis.

Shinichiro Seki¹, Hisanobu Koyama¹, Yoshiharu Ohno^2,3, Mizuho Nishio^2,3, Daisuke Takenaka⁴, Takeshi Yoshikawa^2,3, Sumiaki Matsumoto^2,3, and Kazuro Sugimura^1
1Radiology, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, ²Advanced Biomedical Imaging Research Center, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, ³Division of Functional and Diagnostic Imaging Research, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, ⁴Diagnostic Radiology, Hyogo Cancer Center, Akashi, Hyogo, Japan

The clinical benefits of differentiation of anterior mediastinal solitary tumors is obvious, especially differentiation in clinical practice of tumors not needing further intervention or treatment and those needing them, as well as of malignant and other tumors. Many studies have reported that these tumors produce characteristic CT and MRI findings, but the differentiation is difficult in some cases. Recently, it has been suggested that diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) could be useful for assessment of primary malignanct tumor. We hypothesized that DWI might be as effective as multi-detector row CT findings for the diagnosis and management of anterior mediastinal solitary tumors.

John Chetley Ford¹, Kathryn M. Olsen², Daryl Turlington², Kai Ding¹, Elisabeth Weiss¹, and Geoffrey D. Hugo^1
1Radiation Oncology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, United States, ²Radiology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia, United States

A respiratory-gated echo-planar diffusion-weighted pulse sequence was investigated by conducting 25 diffusion studies in seven lung cancer patients who had also undergone PET/CT. Quantitative MR diffusion imaging provides delineation of viable lung tumor and exhibits excellent correspondence with PET imaging. Intra-patient repeatability of average apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) in lung tumor is 4-8%. The remarkable precision of quantitative ADC using this pulse sequence will afford the ability to detect ADC changes in response to treatment and provide meaningful correlation with biological tissue state.

Evangelia Kaza¹, David John Collins¹, Richard Symonds-Tayler¹, Rafal Panek¹, Wilhelm Horger², and Martin O. Leach^1
1Cancer Research UK and EPSRC Cancer Imaging Centre, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, United Kingdom, ²Healthcare Sector, Siemens AG, Erlangen, Bavaria, Germany

An Active Breathing Coordinator (ABC) was successfully applied during MRI with a clinically relevant 3D TSE SPACE sequence. The device was implemented for breath holding at a constant lung volume on in- or exhalation, presenting more accurate structure delineation than self-sustained breath holds and equivalent image quality to a navigator application. The ABC can be used for controlled breath holding under similar conditions as during radiotherapy to support treatment planning and assessment.

Kathrin Hemberger¹, Stefan Weick², Felix A. Breuer¹, Peter M. Jakob^1,2, and Daniel Haddad^3
1MRB Research Center for Magnetic-Resonance-Bavaria, Wuerzburg, Germany, ²Departement of Experimental Physics 5, Institute of Physics, Wuerzburg, Germany, ³MRB Research Center, Wuerzburg, Germany

In this work retrospectively self-gated 3D UTE imaging of the human lung is presented. In standard 3D UTE the radial trajectories are acquired linearly following a spiral path along the surface of a sphere. This sampling strategy potentially leads to non-uniform coverage of k-space after retrospective gating leading to undersampling artifacts in the final images and therefore is restricted to prospective gating methods. strategies. In order to allow for flexible retrospective gating we implemented a quasi random (QR) based radial sampling scheme. This allows for resonably uniform k-space coverage after retrospective gating to arbitrary breathing states.

Magdalena Zurek¹, Louise Sladen², Frank Risse¹, Sonya Jackson², Linda Swedin², Gaell Mayer², Lars E. Olsson³, and Paul D. Hockings^1
1Personalised Healthcare and Biomarkers, AstraZeneca, R&D, Mölndal, Sweden, ²Respiratory & Inflammation iMed, AstraZeneca, R&D, Mölndal, Sweden, ³Lund University, Malmö, Sweden

Ultrashort TE oxygen-enhanced MRI was applied to assess pulmonary function in an experimental model of COPD induced in mice. Alveolar connectivity loss and loss of elasticity in PPE mice indicated development of emphysema. UTE MRI detected decreased proton density reflecting the destruction of lung parenchyma. However no difference in global oxygen enhancement between the groups was found suggesting that healthy lungs regions compensated for loss of function in damaged areas and/or that oxygen is dissolved in fluids associated with an inflammatory response in this experimental model.

James R. MacFall¹, Ahmed Halaweish^1,2, William Michael Foster³, Richard E. Moon⁴, Neil R. MacIntyre³, Brian Soher⁵, and H. Cecil Charles^2,6
1Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States, ²Duke Image Analysis Laboratory, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States,³Department of Medicine--Pulmonary, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States, ⁴Department of Anesthesiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States, ⁵Deparment of Radiology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States, ⁶Department of Radology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States

. 1H magnetic resonance imaging has had limited value in the lung due to short T2*in spite of research showing that functional information can be obtained with oxygen enhanced MRI [1]. Recently, advances in ultra-short TE (UTE) pulse sequences [2] have begun to provide the ability to image the lung parenchyma. In this work we evaluated whether UTE MRI could be used for oxygen-enhanced 3D imaging of human lungs during free breathing

Stanley Kruger¹, Kevin M. Johnson^1,2, Scott K. Nagle^1,2, Robert Cadman¹, Laura C. Bell³, Nizar Jarjour⁴, and Sean B. Fain^1,2
1Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States, ²Radiology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States, ³Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ⁴School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, United States

3D radial UTE SPGR is a new technique in oxygen enhanced MRI that combines oversampling the center of k-space as well as short TE to yield a 3D isotropic volume of oxygen enhanced signal that is robust against cardiac motion artifact and T2* decay, while providing full lung coverage. Mean Signal Enhancement (MSE) values corresponding to regional pulmonary ventilation in humans are compared across normal and asthmatic human subjects.

Eriko Yoshimaru¹ and Theodore Trouard^1,2
1Biomedical Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States, ²Bio5 Institute, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States

3D Ultrashort TE (UTE) MRI was carried out in vivo on mice without respiratory restrictions. The importance of experimentally measuring k-space trajectories for image reconstruction was studied. Additionally, retrospectively respiratory gating the 3D data set allowed for images at two distinct respiratory phases to be reconstructed, providing valuable physiological information regarding pulmonary physiology.

Masaya Takahashi¹, Koji Sagiyama¹, Priya Ravikumar², Cuneyt Yilmaz², Yasuo Yamashita³, Yoshiharu Ohno⁴, and Connie C.W. Hsia^2
1Advanced Imaging Research Center, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States, ²Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, United States, ³Division of Radiology, Department of Medical Technology, Kyushu University Hospital, Fukuoka, Fukuoka, Japan, ⁴Advanced Biomedical Imaging Research Center, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe, Hyogo, Japan

Pulmonary MR imaging using ultra-short echo times (UTE-MRI) was introduced as a new tool for quantitative measure of tissue integrity in the lung. We previously demonstrated that T2* and % change in signal intensity (SI) measured with this method correlate closely with lung tissue density and can detect ventilatory heterogeneity in the lung parenchyma. Here we report the use of UTE-MRI to assess pulmonary structural and functional abnormalities in a rat model of obesity-associated diabetes mellitus.

Catherine J. Simpkin¹, Sharon L. Giles¹, David John Collins^1,2, Veronica A. Morgan¹, David M. Higgins³, and Nandita M. deSouza^1,2
1MRI Department, Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton, Surrey, United Kingdom, ²Clinical Magnetic Resonance, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, United Kingdom,³Clinical Science, Philips Healthcare, Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom

Visualisation of lung tissue is difficult on conventional T2W imaging due to aeration and minimal tissue density. In this study normal volunteers and patients with a history of lung cancer were scanned using an ultrashort TE (UTE) sequence to obtain signal from lung tissue. T2* estimates were significantly higher in volunteers than in patients for hilar and basal lung regions (p=0.001, p=0.04), but not at the apices, likely due to emphysematous changes in the patients. T2* estimates were higher in previously irradiated segments than non-irradiated lung in patients, but a larger cohort is needed for verification.

Tom Dresselaers¹, Greetje Vande Velde¹, Jennifer Poelmans¹, Arno Nauerth², Eric Verbeken¹, Katrien Lagrou³, and Uwe Himmelreich^1
1Department of Imaging & Pathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Vl.Brabant, Belgium, ²MR-Technologies, Bruker Biospin MRI GmbH, Ettlingen, Ettlingen, Germany, ³Dept. of Microbiology and Immunology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Vl.Brabant, Belgium

Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii are encapsulated yeasts that cause life-threatening disease that affect the lungs and may spread to the brain. As symptoms appear only after the disease manifestation at a very late stage, it is essential to dynamically monitor cryptococcosis non-invasively to establish the infection kinetics and potential spreading to the CNS on an individual basis. Although µCT can be used with good spatial resolution, the soft tissue contrast is limited and radiotoxicity concerns limit the applicability in longitudinal studies. Therefore, we have aimed at evaluating different MRI protocols to visualize lung infection in a mouse model for pneumonial cryptococcosis.

Julius Renne¹, Jan Hinrichs¹, Christian Schönfeld¹, Marcel Gutberlet¹, Peter M. Jakob², Frank Wacker¹, and Jens Vogel-Claussen^1
1Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany, ²Experimental Physics (Biophysics), University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany

Oxygen-enhanced MRI of the lung is a promising tool for the development of early disease markers or long-term monitoring of disease activity. However, so far few data exist about the reliability of this method in a clinical setting. Healthy individuals were scanned two times using two different gas delivery methods usually available in clinical settings. A full covering face mask with a half-closed gas delivery system showed highly reproducible T1 values and oxygen transfer function. Furthermore, using this mask lower variability between healthy individuals was seen compared to a loose-fit mask.

Stefan Weick^1,2, Flavio Carinci^1,3, Cord Meyer^1,2, Felix A. Breuer⁴, Frederick Mantel², Philip Kleine², and Peter M. Jakob^1,4
1Department of Experimental Physics 5, University of Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Bavaria, Germany, ²Department of Radiation Oncology, University Hospital Wuerzburg, Wuerzburg, Bavaria, Germany, ³MRB Research Center, Wuerzburg, Bavaria, Germany, ⁴Research Center Magnetic Resonance Bavaria e. V. (MRB), Wuerzburg, Bavaria, Germany

In this work, it is shown that image registration in combination with averaging allows for the reconstruction of 3D data sets of the human lung with improved SNR. Retrospective respiratory self-gating was first used to reconstruct 3D data sets of multiple respiratory phases. These data sets were then registered onto one target data set and finally averaged. The resulting data set shows improved SNR due to averaging. Additionally, the data set shows preserved motion artifact reduction although data from different respiratory phases were used within the reconstruction process.

Ravi T. Seethamraju¹, Iga Muradyan², Mikayel Dabaghyan², Samuel Patz³, and Ritu R. Gill^3
1MR R&D, Siemens Healthcare, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, ²Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States, ³Radiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States

The abstract details the implementation of Fourier Decomposition (FD) at 3T in a clinical setting. FD is a non contrast perfusion and ventilation assessment technique based on TrueFISP which is know to have issues at 3T, especially with susceptibility, off-resonance, dielectric effects, etc. Numerous publications are available in literature which help in mitigating these issues with TrueFISP for cardiac imaging and body imaging at 3T. Adapting these techniques for FD is a simple extension at making this technique work at 3T while taking advantage of twice the SNR at 3T.

Samuel Patz^1,2, Mikayel Dabaghyan^1,3, Matthew Rosen^4,5, and Mirko I. Hrovat^3
1Radiology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, ²Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States, ³Mirtech, Inc., Brockton, MA, United States,⁴Martinos/MGH Biomedical Imaging Center, Charlestown, MA, United States, ⁵Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States

The purpose of this work was to demonstrate the feasibility of detecting changes in pulmonary proton density at very low field strength (6.5mT). A 4-inch diameter RF surface coil was applied to the chest and FIDs detected at different lung volumes. Differences in the acquired spectra easily demonstrated changes in lung density. Eventual application to a portable, ICU compatible planar magnet is envisioned in order to detect changes in lung patency in subjects with acute lung injury.

Harald Kramer^1,2, Scott K. Nagle¹, Christopher J. Francois³, Karl K. Vigen¹, Alejandro Munoz Del Rio¹, Scott B. Reeder¹, and Mark L. Schiebler^1
1Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin - Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States, ²Institute for Clinical Radiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Munich, Bavaria, Germany, ³Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States

MRA and CTA exams performed for diagnosis of pulmonary embolism were correlated in 20 prospectively enrolled patients. MRA featured good sensitivity but limited specificity and only moderate inter reader agreement. MRA can serve as a substitute diagnostic tool in patients suffering from pulmonary embolism if CTA is contraindicated or as follow up exams in patients already undergoing thromboembolic therapy.

Takayuki Masui¹, Motoyuki Katayama¹, Masayoshi Sugimura¹, Yuji Iwadate², Kimihiko Sato¹, Kazuma Terauchi¹, Kei Tsukamoto¹, Kenichi Mizuki¹, Mayumi Matsushima¹, Koji Yoneyama¹, Takayuki Suzuki¹, Mitsuharu Miyoshi², Naoyuki Takei², Hiroyuki Kabasawa², and Keiko Mabuchi^1
1Radiology, Seirei Hamamatsu General Hospital, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan, ²GE Healthcare Japan, Hino, Tokyo, Japan

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of dynamic contrast study during free-breathing in combined use of navigator technique for the evaluation of the pancreatic lesions. In all the patients, dynamic contrast MR imaging of the pancreas could be successfully obtained under free-breathing with acceptable image quality and lesion recognitions. This technique is useful for the elderly people or unconscious patients who cannot hold their breaths. We may further need to improve temporal resolution for each phase of dynamic study to cover lager areas of interest and to characterize solid lesions in the pancreas and other organs.

Chao Ma¹, Chunshu Pan¹, He Wang², Shiyue Chen¹, and Jianping Lu^1
1Radiology, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, Shanghai, Shanghai, China, ²GE healthcare, Shanghai, Shanghai, China

Diffusion-Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Healthy Pancreas: The Effect of Age on Apparent Diffusion Coefficient Values

Chao Ma¹, Yan Li¹, He Wang², Shiyue Chen¹, and Jianping Lu^1
1Radiology, Shanghai Changhai Hospital, Shanghai, Shanghai, China, ²MR Research Group, Ge healthcare, Shanghai, Shanghai, China

DWI has been mostly acquired using single-shot echo-planar imaging (SS EPI) to minimize motion induced artifacts. The spatial resolution, however, is inherently limited in SS EPI, even with the advances in parallel imaging. A novel method of reduced Field of View SS EPI (rFOV SS EPI) has achieved high resolution DWI in human carotid artery, spinal cord with reduced blurring and higher spatial resolution than conventional SS EPI. In the study, we optimized the rFoV technique, compared this with standard ss EPI, to demonstrate the feasibility of pancreatic high resolution rFOV DWI; and report HR DWI features of various pancreatic neoplasms.

Sayuan Liang¹, Hauke Kolster¹, Karim Louchami², Tom Dresselaers¹, Willy Malaisse², Sonu Sharma¹, and Uwe Himmelreich^3
1Biomedical MRI unit/MoSAIC, Department of Imaging and Pathology, K.U.Leuven, Leuven, Belgium, ²Laboratory of Experimental Hormonology, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Bruxelles, Belgium, ³Biomedical MRI unit/MoSAIC, Department of Imaging and Pathology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

The purpose of this project is to validate β-cell and pancreatic islet imaging by using fluorinated, GLUT2 targeting mannoheptulose derivatives (FMH) in vivo. We have established a set-up (19F coil, acquisition protocol) for the detection of signals from 19F compound in the mouse abdomen at the respective fluorine concentrations. In vivo experiments using the different FMH derivatives indicate rapid clearance of the compound via the kidney and bladder. While the FMH signal remaining in the liver and pancreas is potentially sufficient for in vivo β-cell and hepatocyte imaging, the sensitivity has to be improved for applications in models of diabetes.

Suraj D. Serai¹, Daniel Wallihan¹, Sudhakar K. Ventakesh², Richard Leroy Ehman², and Daniel J. Podberesky^1
1Radiology, CCHMC, Cincinnati, OH, United States, ²Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Minnesota, MN, United States

After the Fontan procedure, the circulation of blood depends on high central venous pressures required for an effective transpulmonary gradient, thus generating adequate blood flow into the lungs in the absence of a subpulmonary pumping-chamber. Over the long-term, cellular atrophy, necrosis and fibrosis ensue, commonly referred to as congestive hepatopathy. MRE is a non-invasive technique that can be used as a tool to identify liver fibrosis. With the ultimate goal of applying MRE for improving current diagnostic capabilities used in the care of these patients, this proof-of-principle study provided us with valuable information that we have used in preliminary studies.

Hiroyuki Morisaka¹, Utaro Motougi¹, Shintaro Ichikawa¹, Katsuhiro Sano¹, Tomoaki Ichikawa¹, Satoshi Ikenaga¹, Hiroshi Kumagai¹, and Tsutomu Araki^1
1Radiology, University of Yamanashi, Chuo, Yamanashi, Japan

This presentation will be focused on echo-planar imaging—based MR elastography of the liver.

Guido H. Jajamovich¹, Hadrien A. Dyvorne¹, Ersin Bayram², Claudia Donnerhack¹, Richard Leroy Ehman³, and Bachir Taouli^1
1Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States, ²GE Healthcare, Waukesha, WI, United States, ³Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States

Liver blood flow and metabolism can be altered in postprandial state, which may induce changes in quantitative MRI techniques such as phase contrast (PC), MR elastography (MRE) and DWI. In this study, we assess reproducibility in fasting conditions and the post-prandial effect on the following metrics: portal venous blood flow/velocity, liver stiffness measured with MRE and liver ADC measured with DWI in 11 subjects. Portal venous flow/velocity and liver stiffness increased significantly after caloric intake, whereas ADC did not show significant changes.

Manil Chouhan¹, Alan Bainbridge², Nathan Davies³, Rajiv Jalan³, Rajeshwar Mookerjee³, Simon Walker-Samuel⁴, Mark F. Lythgoe⁴, Shonit Punwani¹, and Stuart Taylor^1
1UCL Centre for Medical Imaging, University College London, London, London, United Kingdom, ²Department of Medical Physics, University College Hospitals NHS Trust, London, London, United Kingdom, ³UCL Institute for Liver and Digestive Health, University College London, London, London, United Kingdom, ⁴UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging, University College London, London, London, United Kingdom

Difficulties measuring liver blood flow have restricted our understanding of the vascular pathophysiology of liver disease and the development of therapeutic strategies to address these changes. Using phase-contrast (PC) MRI to measure portal venous flow at 9.4T, rat models of chronic liver disease have been studied using terlipressin, a clinically licensed agent for the reduction of splanchnic blood flow. Our study proceeds to demonstrate profound haemodynamic differences between animals with and without disease.

Samantha Flood¹, Eric Meng², Melanie Beaton³, Lanette J. Friesen-Waldner⁴, Congyu Zhang⁵, and Charles A. McKenzie^1
1Medical Biophysics, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, ²Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, ³Department of Medicine, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, ⁴Medical Biophysics, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, ⁵Engineering, The University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD) is the leading form of liver disease worldwide in both adults and children. Forty-five patients with confirmed NAFLD underwent multiple MRI’s and biopsies. Proton Density Fat Fraction was calculated from IDEAL MRI and area fat fraction was calculated from digitised biopsy samples. Results from two raters were compared to determine reproducibility of the MRI and biopsy derived fat fractions. Fat fractions determined by biopsy and MRI correlate strongly and have similarly high inter-rater reproducibility. These results suggest that MRI is a good non-invasive option for quantifying hepatic fat.

Jürgen Machann¹, Erwin Schleicher², Christian Würslin¹, Andreas Fritsche², and Fritz Schick^1
1Department of Radiology, Section on Experimental Radiology, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, ²Department of Endocrinology and Diabetology, Angiology, Nephrology and Clinical Chemistry, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany

In order to determine intra- and interindividual differences in fatty acid composition at different locations of the body, 1H-MRS of adipose tissue was performed in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SCAT) of the neck and the calf, deep and superficial adipose tissue in the abdomen, tibial bone marrow and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) in 20 males. Examinations were performed at 3T applying a STEAM technique. Ratios of mono- and polyunsaturated fatty acids and methyl-protons were calculated. There are significant differences in unsaturation between the locations and between individuals with bone marrow showing the lowest (0.518) and SCATcalf the highest ratio (0.655). VAT seems to play a special role as there is a strong negative correlation between unsaturation and %VAT.

Prashant Kumar Rai¹, Rama Jayasundar¹, Gaurav Sharma¹, Ashok Kumar Pathak², Somenath Ghatak¹, Geeta Watal³, and A K. Rai^2
1Department of NMR, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Delhi, India, ²Department of Physics, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, U P, India, ³Department of Chemistry, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, U P, India

This study reports a comprehensive metabolomic profiling of an antidiabetic (evaluated in vivo in rats) polyherbal formulation using NMR, FTIR and LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy). The proton spectrum showed primary and secondary metabolites, many of which were further validated using FTIR spectroscopy. LIBS spectrum revealed the presence of elements such as Na, K, H, Mg and Ca. The presence of primary and secondary metabolites in NMR and FTIR spectra, and that of Mg and Ca in LIBS spectrum indicate their possible roles in the antidiabetic activity of the formulation. Mg and Ca are known to regulate blood glucose level.

Lingli Deng^1,2, Jiyang Dong¹, and Zhong Chen^1,2
1Department of Electronic Science, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China, ²Department of Communication Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, Fujian, China

Scaling is an important data preprocessing procedure prior to multivariate statistical analysis for NMR spectroscopic metabolomics. The commonly used methods scale each variable of the data independently, which ignores the chemical meaning of the spectra and may make the subsequent analysis be hard to interpret. A new scaling method based on non-negative principal component analysis (NPCA) is proposed in this paper. It aims to perform scaling on the concentration of the metabolites rather than on the variables. Analysis results of simulated and real 1H NMR spectra presents itself as an interpretable pretreatment method for multivariable data analysis.

Kristen Zakian¹, Jing Qi², Yuman Fong³, Leonard Saltz⁴, Michael D'Angelica³, Nancy Kemeny⁴, Mithat Gonen⁵, Jinru Shia⁶, Amita Shukla-Dave¹, Kinh Gian Do⁷, William Jarnagin³, Lawrence Schwartz², and Jason A. Koutcher^1
1Medical Physics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States, ²Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, United States, ³Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States, ⁴Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States,⁵Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States, ⁶Pathology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States, ⁷Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States

Chemotherapy for colorectal cancer has been implicated in hepatic changes including steatosis. In serial proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies in patients with colorectal cancer, we measured hepatic lipids prior to chemotherapy, after 6 weeks and after 24 weeks of treatment. Six of 27 patients (23%) converted from non-steatotic to steatotic after 24 weeks of chemotherapy. Patients whose lipids increased significantly after 6 weeks of chemotherapy were likely to complete chemotherapy with elevated lipids. Proton MRS provides the oncologist with a window on hepatic lipids during chemotherapy and gives an early indication of lipid levels at the end of treatment.

Kristen Zakian¹, Jing Qi², Yuman Fong³, Leonard Saltz⁴, Michael D'Angelica³, Nancy Kemeny⁴, Mithat Gonen⁵, Jinru Shia⁶, Amita Shukla-Dave¹, Kinh Gian Do⁷, William Jarnagin³, Lawrence Schwartz², and Jason A. Koutcher^1
1Medical Physics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States, ²Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, NY, United States, ³Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States, ⁴Medicine, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States,⁵Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States, ⁶Pathology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States, ⁷Radiology, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, United States

To evaluate hepatic triglyceride changes during and after adjuvant chemotherapy in colorectal cancer patients, 1H MRS was performed prior to chemotherapy, after 6 months of treatment and at 1 year follow up. Nine FOLFOX-treated patients and 7 patients treated with hepatic arterial infusion of FUDR and systemic irinotecan (HAI-FUDR/IRI completed this 1 year study. FOLFOX patients who experienced an increase in fat to fat+water ratio (FFW) during treatment tended to return toward baseline after 6 months off-treatment unless they experienced a significant weight-gain. HAI-FUDR patients did not show a trend toward increasing hepatic lipids while on treatment.

Gavin Hamilton¹, Michael S. Middleton¹, Guilherme M. Cunha¹, and Claude B. Sirlin^1
1Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States

Gadolinium-based contrast agents may affect water and fat differently in in vivo liver MR imaging. In this study we evaluate the effect of a hepatocyte-specific MR gadolinium-based contrast agent on T1 and T2 of fat and water in human subjects using a ¹H MRS pulse sequence designed to measure T1, T2, and proton density fat fraction (PDFF) simultaneously in a single 21 s breath-hold. We find while gadolinium-based contrast agents significantly reduced T1 and T2 of water, there was no change in fat T1 and T2 and post-contrast water and fat both showed similar T1 values.

Gavin Hamilton¹, Michael S. Middleton¹, and Claude B. Sirlin^1
1Department of Radiology, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California, United States

In vivo hepatic ¹H MRS can measure fat fraction by acquiring single-average spectra with long TR at multiple TEs. As these spectra have to be acquired in a breath-hold, only a limited of spectra at different TEs can be collected, reducing the accuracy of T2 measurement. Reducing TR to collect spectra at more TEs introduces T1 weighting in the fat fraction. Here we show that acquiring single-average spectra at multiple TRs and TEs in a single breath-hold can repeatably measure liver water and fat T1 and T2, and PDFF in vivo.

Chun-Tsun Shih¹, Yi-Ru Lin¹, Chih-Ping Liao¹, Bo-Rong Huang¹, and Shang-Yueh Tsai^2,3
1Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, ²Graduate Institute of Applied Physics, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan, ³Research Center for Mind, Brain and Learning, National Chengchi University, Taipei, Taiwan

Proton echo planar spectroscopic imaging (PEPSI) has been shown to be able to acquire liver fat content in single breath hold. To further extend spatial resolution or to decrease breath hold period, Generalized Autocalibrating Partially Parallel Acquisitions (GRAPPA) was enrolled to accelerate PEPSI acquisition. GRAPPA weighting coefficients were estimated from fully phase encoded data from individual coil element using Auto-Calibration Signal (ACS) lines. After GRAPPA reconstruction, lipid contents were quantified using LCModel and compared to full-sampled PEPSI. In conclusion, 2-fold acceleration using GRAPPA with ACS lines is feasible to reduce scan time in both 16x32 and 32x32 PEPSI data.

Ronald Ouwerkerk^1
1Biomedical and Metabolic Imaging Branch, NIH/NIDDK, Bethesda, MD, United States

Single volume ¹H-MRS can be used to measure human liver glycogen in vivo, but various factors could lead to quantitation errors. T₁ and T₂ relaxation effects were examined on glycogen phantoms with ionic strength, pH and temperature mimicking the intracellular environment of the liver using the same PRESS sequence and parameters used for in-vivo measurements of glycogen in humans. Signal variations as a function of echo time (TE) and echo spacing with a fixed TE showed effects of homonuclear coupling. Thus, assuming an exponential model to correct glycogen signals for relaxation could lead to an underestimation of the glycogen concentrations.

Aliya Gifford^1,2, Joel Kullberg³, Johan Berglund³, Theodore F. Towse^4,5, Ronald C. Walker^6,7, Malcolm J. Avison^5,8, and E. Brian Welch^5,7
1Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ²Chemical and Physical Biology Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ³Department of Radiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, ⁴Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁵Vanderbilt University Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, United States,⁶Department of Medical Imaging, Tennessee Valley VA Healthcare, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁷Department of Radiology & Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, United States, ⁸Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, TN, United States

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) is a thermogenic tissue known to be present in human infants, but only recently has it been confirmed in adults using ¹⁸F-FDG PET. Reliable identification and spatial mapping methods that can distinguish BAT from white adipose tissue (WAT) would provide investigators with a powerful tool with which to study BAT’s influence on body metabolism and composition. Using fat-water MRI and ¹⁸F-FDG PET, we imaged BAT in a healthy adult human.

Patrick Winter¹, Andriy Myronovych², and Rohit Kohli^2
1Radiology, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, OH, United States, ²Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, OH, United States

Fat-suppressed MRI and localized MR spectroscopy were used to quantify abdominal fat content and liver fat content following Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG) surgery in a mouse model of obesity. MRI revealed a significant reduction in body fat and liver fat following VSG surgery compared to mice receiving sham surgery followed by calorie restriction, despite similar body weights for these two treatment groups. Liver fat by MR spectroscopy showed excellent agreement with ex vivo tissue analysis. This study demonstrates that MRI can monitor abdominal and liver fat content following weight loss surgery.

Greg O. Cron^1,2, Ryan J. Mailloux³, Mary-Ellen Harper³, Ian G. Cameron^1,2, and Mark E. Schweitzer^1,2
1Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, ²Radiology, University of Ottawa, ³Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Immunology, University of Ottawa

Obesity is an increasing public health concern. MR is the most commonly used imaging modality to follow obesity-related disorders in vivo. A crucial component of such research is in vivo quantitative assessment, as well as compartmental localization, of body fat, to allow longitudinal follow up. Unfortunately, there exists no widely available, universally agreed-upon MR imaging method for measuring fat, especially for very high-field scanners with consequent B0 inhomogeneity issues. We developed a Fourier-based MRI fat quantification technique for use on whole mice at 7T. The technique correlates strongly with phantom and mouse dissection data and is straightforward to implement.

Rama Jayasundar¹, Ankur Poddar², Ariachery Ammini³, and Ashok Kumar Mukhopadhyaya^4
1Department of NMR, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, ²Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India,³Department of Endocrinology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, ⁴Department of Lab Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

This study explores how MRI can be used innovatively for scientific research and validation of traditional medicine, and focuses on the predictive and personalised Indian medical system of ayurveda. In particular, correlation between ayurvedic clinical phenotyping, and MRI assessed subcutaneous fat (SF) measurements in abdomen and thigh was studied in 28 healthy volunteers, who were phenotyped according to the ayurvedic indices. Whole body MRI in the coronal plane for evaluating fat distribution was also carried out. Significant associations were observed between phenotypes considered in ayurveda to be predisposed to obesity and diabetes, and regional and whole body subcutaneous fat distribution.

E. Brian Welch^1,2, Aliya Gifford^2,3, Johan Berglund⁴, Joel Kullberg⁵, Nils Paaske⁶, Anne-Lise Schierup⁶, Erik M. Pedersen⁷, and Malcolm J. Avison^2,8
1Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States, ²Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States, ³Chemical and Physical Biology Program, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States, ⁴Philips Healthcare, Stockholm, Sweden,⁵Department of Radiology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden, ⁶X-tend ApS, Hornslet, Denmark, ⁷Department of Radiology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark,⁸Department of Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, United States

This research demonstrates the feasibility for accelerated acquisitions of whole-body (WB) multiple fast field echo protocols on a 3 Tesla scanner for fat-water MRI with a custom tabletop that allows a single 16-channel surface coil array to be used at every table position in a multiple station data collection strategy. The acceleration afforded by the strategy enables the collection of a high number of echoes in a reasonable acquisition time. The additional echoes enable WB quantitative fat-fraction mapping including R2* estimation.

Rama Jayasundar¹, Somenath Ghatak¹, Ankur Poddar², Ariachery Ammini³, and Ashok Kumar Mukhopadhyaya^4
1Department of NMR, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, ²Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India,³Department of Endocrinology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, ⁴Department of Laboratory Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India

The aim is to evaluate Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue (SAT) in abdomen and thigh (full and mid-thigh) using MRI and correlate them with diabetic risk factors such as insulin sensitivity and lipid profile. The study carried out in 25 male volunteers showed significant positive correlation between the following: SAT (abdomen and mid-thigh) and insulin resistance, SAT (abdomen and thigh) and cholesterol. Given that diabetes is a major public health issue worldwide and there is growing emphasis on prevention and identifying risk factors, MRI assessed SAT can have a predictive role in identifying risk group for diabetes.

Suresh Anand Sadananthan^1,2, Bhanu Prakash K.N.³, Melvin K-S Leow^1,4, ChinMeng Khoo⁵, Kavita Venkataraman², Eric Khoo Yin Hao⁵, Lee Yung Seng^1,6, Peter Gluckman¹, Tai E Shyong^1,5, and Sendhil S. Velan^1,7
1Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, A*STAR, Singapore, ²Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, National University of Singapore, Singapore, ³Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, A*STAR, Singapore, ⁴Department of Endocrinology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, ⁵Department of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore,⁶Department ot Pediatrics, National University of Singapore, Singapore, ⁷Clinical Imaging Research Centre, A*STAR-NUS, Singapore

The study of fat distribution is important to understand the pathophysiology of obesity-related disorders, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. Several studies have suggested that the fat distribution is different across different ethnic groups. In this study, we investigated the relationship between the abdominal fat depots, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), deep (DSAT) and superficial (SSAT) adipose tissues and BMI in Chinese, Malays and Indians living in Singapore.

Bhanu Prakash KN¹, Venkatesh Gopalan¹, Swee Shean Lee¹, and Sendhil S. Velan^1
1Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium, Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

Automatic segmentation and quantification of SAT and VAT from MR images were performed to study the influence of exercise and calorie restriction on obese rats. Distance regularized Level set for delineating the SAT, VAT regions, and fuzzy C-means for classification of fat, organs and non-fat regions was developed and implemented. T2W SE from 35 animals (pre- and post-interventions), L1 – L5 of spine were acquired using 7T Bruker Clinscan. Results of segmentation and quantification showed significant decrease of SAT and VAT in exercise and calorie-restriction groups. The proposed method reduced processing time and eliminated inter-and intra- observer variability in quantification of fat.

Abhishek Pandey^1,2, Ali Bilgin^1,3, Sindhu Cumar², Bobby T. Kalb², Diego R. Martin², and Maria I. Altbach^2
1Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States, ²Medical Imaging, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States,³Biomedical Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, United States

The analysis of imaging parameters in the liver has become of increased importance for the evaluation of pathologies such as fibrosis, inflammation and iron deposition. Although parametric imaging techniques have been developed, the analysis of parameters maps is mainly restricted to an ROI within the liver. Whole liver analysis should yield a better representation of the disease and if the analysis is automated it can be used routinely in the clinic. In this work, we present a combined liver and vessel segmentation technique that is used to evaluate full liver T2 and Fat Fraction maps in an automated fashion.

Zachary J. Peters¹, Errol Colak¹, Ram Jeyaratnam¹, Paraskevi A. Vlachou¹, Shalini Anthwal¹, and Anish Kirpalani^1
1Department of Medical Imaging, University of Toronto, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada

Little data is available regarding the optimal timing and number of delayed (interstitial) phase post-gadolinium routine liver MRI, compared with hepatic arterial and venous phases. The contrast-enhanced liver MRIs of 72 patients with 145 focal liver lesions (FLLs) were reviewed and analyzed to evaluate the change in categorization and diagnostic confidence of FLLs imaged with post-gadolinium T1-weighted MRI at 3- and 5-minute interstitial phases, compared with a 2-minute interstitial phase. We found that 3- and 5-minute post-gadolinium sequences do not add significant information in FLL evaluation and that unenhanced liver MRI is often diagnostic in patients who cannot receive gadolinium.

Atsushi Higaki¹, Tsutomu Tamada¹, Akira Yamamoto¹, Hiroki Higashi¹, Akihiko Kanki¹, Yasufumi Noda¹, Tomohiro Sato¹, and Katsuyoshi Ito^1
1Radiology, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki city, Okayama, Japan

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prognosis of small hepatocellular nodules which showed hyper-intensity at hepatobiliary phase but could not be detected at vascular phase and other conventional sequences of initial Gd-EOB-DTPA enhanced MR imaging in patients with cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis. As the results, there were no nodules which showed hypervascular transformation and significant enlargement during follow-up periods. Our results indicate that these hyper-intensity nodules in patients with cirrhosis or chronic hepatitis may be observable lesions with clinical benignity.

Jonathan P. Dyke¹, Pascal Spincemaille¹, Andrew Talal², Rhonda Yantiss³, and Krishna Juluru^1
1Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, NY, NY, United States, ²Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, NY, NY, United States, ³Pathology, Weill Cornell Medical College, NY, NY, United States

Whole liver dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE-MRI) was performed on control and Hepatitis-C subjects using the liver specific contrast agent Gd-EOB-DTPA (Eovist). The elimination rate of contrast (kel) from the liver was fit with a 2 compartment model and correlated with the degree of fibrosis assessed via liver biopsy. A cutoff value was found that allowed for identification of subjects having fibrosis grade 3 or greater based on their elimination rate. This technique may also provide information on regional liver function at the biopsy site and specific segments of the liver.

Benjamin Leporq¹, Frank Pilleul¹, Jerome Dumortier², Olivier Guillaud², Thibaud Lefort², and Olivier Beuf^1
1CREATIS; CNRS UMR 5220; INSERM U1044; INSA-Lyon; UCBL, Université de Lyon, Villeurbanne, Rhône-Alpes, France, ²CHU Edouard Herriot; Department of Hepatology, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, Rhône-Alpes, France

Liver fibrosis is an important cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with chronic liver diseases. While an early detection and a clinical follow-up of liver fibrosis are required for therapeutic strategies, the actual gold standard cannot be used in the clinical follow-up due to inherent risk, interobserver variability and sampling errors. Our objective was to evaluate the combination of IVIM with perfusion imaging using a MR-DCE technique for liver fibrosis assessment at 3.0 T in patients with chronic liver diseases. The link between perfusion-related diffusion given by IVIM and quantitative perfusion parameters given by MR-DCE imaging was investigated. Results indicated that the combination of IVIM and MR-DCE imaging do not bring additional information for fibrosis assessment in a large spectra of etiologies. Indeed, perfusion parameters given by MR-DCE imaging alone are relevant to evaluate fibrosis severity whereas fat overload constitute a confounding factor for fibrosis evaluation with IVIM when NAFLD and chronic hepatitis are mixed. Nevertheless, since IVIM can give information about both hemodynamic changes and molecular diffusion restriction induced by the deposition of extracellular matrix components associated to liver fibrosis, IVIM could be a useful injection-free method to distinguish between pure steatosis and NASH in patients with NAFLD, if combined with a suitable MR fat quantification method.

Suguru Kakite¹, Hadrien A. Dyvorne¹, Karen M. Lee¹, Sasan Roayaie², Ashley Knight-Greenfield¹, Ersin Bayram³, Claudia Donnerhack¹, and Bachir Taouli^1
1Department of Radiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, United States, ²Department of Surgery, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY, United States,³GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI, United States

IVIM diffusion parameters and ADC values were quantified in 79 HCCs and liver parenchyma in 46 patients at 3T. D (true diffusion coefficient), PF (perfusion fraction) and ADC were all significantly higher in HCC compared to cirrhotic liver parenchyma. There were also significant correlations between D/PF/ADC and tumor necrosis in treated HCCs. There were significant differences in D/ADC and no significant difference in PF between necrotic components and viable components. The ADC value in the necrotic lesion is more affected by the value of D and less affected by the value of PF.

Alexander D. Cohen¹, Moira F. Schieke², and Kathleen M. Schmainda^2
1Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States, ²Radiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI, United States

IVIM has been increasingly used in the liver to assess cirrhosis, however, the best way to collect and analyze this data remains unknown. This technique involves the collection of multiple b-values to extract perfusion-related diffusion parameters. There are multiple ways to calculate IVIM parameters. The segmented technique involves using high b-values to estimate the perfusion-insensitive diffusion parameter and fractional perfusion. The full technique involves fitting the entire equation. This study examines the repeatability of the two fitting techniques in the liver. The segmented and full IVIM models had comparable repeatability metrics.

Moti Freiman¹, Jeannette M. Perez-Rossello¹, Michael J. Callahan¹, Mark E. Bittman¹, Robert V. Mulkern¹, Athos Bousvaros², and Simon K. Warfield^1
1Radiology, Harvard Medical School/Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States, ²Gastroenterology, Harvard Medical School/Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States

Inflammation processes in the ileum are associated with narrowing extra-cellular space due to lamina propria and submucosa of the small bowel and lymphoid aggregates, and vascular dilation and changes in blood supply. Both phenomena may alter the quantitative measurements derived from Diffusion-Weighted MRI with fast and slow diffusion analysis. Our investigation show that the newly presented spatially constrained IM model analysis reveals significant difference in both the slow-diffusion parameter (D), associated with narrowing extra-cellular space, and in the fractional contribution of the fast-diffusion parameter (f) associated with changes in microcirculation. However, the independent voxel-wise Intra-Voxel Incoherent Motion (IVIM) analysis reveals significant difference only in the fractional contribution of the fast-diffusion parameter (f). The spatially constrained IM model provides more precise insight to the physiological causes of the DW-MRI signal decay in Crohn's ileitis patients. We are planning to evaluate the clinical advantage achieved by using this new model in analyzing inflammatory activity in Crohn's disease patients.

Pascal Spincemaille¹, Nanda Deepa Thimmappa¹, Bo Xu¹, Martin R. Prince¹, and Yi Wang^1
1Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States

The need for optimal bolus timing in contrast enhanced imaging of the liver can be avoided by using a high temporal resolution acquisition. The selection of an optimal arterial phase requires a manual inspection of a large number of images. An algorithm is presented here that detects the optimal arterial phase in these sets of images, allowing immediate visualization of the relevant liver lesion enhancement information.

Susanne Bonekamp¹, David Bonekamp¹, Vivek Gowdra Halappa², Jean Francois Geschwind², John Eng², Celia Pamela Corona-Villalobos¹, Diane Reyes², Timothy M. Pawlik³, and Ihab R. Kamel^2
1Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Radiology, JHU, Baltimore, MD, United States, ³ Surgery, JHU, Baltimore, MD, United States

One metric that reflects the quality of data collected in clinical studies is the interobserver agreement of a proposed method. In this study we investigated the interobserver agreement of three different approaches used to obtain functional, volumetric and morphologic MRI-based parameters of response to loco-regional treatment in patients with unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma. As hypothesized, semi-automated, volumetric analysis of tumor size, tumor enhancement and ADC values resulted in higher interobserver agreement compared to manual ROI-based analysis of the same parameters

Susanne Bonekamp¹, David Bonekamp¹, Jean Francois Geschwind², Celia Pamela Corona-Villalobos¹, Vivek Gowdra Halappa², Luciana Athayde², Neda Rastegar², and Ihab R. Kamel^2
1Radiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States, ²Radiology, JHU, Baltimore, MD, United States

Assessing early response to intra-arterial treatment is paramount for clinical care in patients with unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma. The arterial enhancement fraction (AEF), a surrogate measure of the hepatic perfusion index, was measured using tri-phase MRI data. AEF response after the first intra-arterial treatment session was associated with improved survival and provided a better stratification of patients into responders and non-responders than currently employed treatment response metrics (RECIST, EASL).

Iva Petkovska¹, Manojkumar Saranathan¹, Thomas A. Hope¹, Brian Andrew Hargreaves¹, Umar Tariq¹, and Shreyas S. Vasanawala^1
1Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

Assessment of hepatic arterial anatomy prior to transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is critical. High spatial and temporal resolution multiphasic contrast enhanced liver MRI via view sharing yields multiple angiographic and arterial phases within single breath-hold and enables depiction of vascular anatomy with acceptable quality and concordant findings with catheter angiogram. Identification of variant vascular anatomy, absence of an extra-capsular feeding branch and main donor to segmental vessel to be embolized may aid pre-treatment planning in HCC.

Xiufeng Li¹, Kamil Ugurbil¹, and Gregory J. Metzger^1
1Center for Magnetic Resonance Research, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States

Renal ASL perfusion imaging is a well-suited imaging modality for longitudinal evaluation of renal function after transplantation. Although FAIR-EPI renal perfusion imaging has been shown at UHF in healthy volunteers, an analysis of the potential benefits of increasing field strength, taking into account multiple parameters including acquisition details and relaxation times, has not been undertaken to date. Therefore, theoretical simulations of perfusion signal SNR and SNR efficiency were performed for all currently available MRI fields. Particularly, perfusion imaging SNR efficiency at 7T was compared to that at 3T by using typical imaging settings of each field.

Mahdi S. Rahimi¹, Kang Wang², James H. Holmes², Jean H. Brittain², Scott B. Reeder³, and Frank R. Korosec^4
1Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ²Global Applied Science Lab, GE Healthcare, Madison, WI, United States, ³Radiology, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ⁴Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, United States

A 3D Interleaved Variable Density sampling pattern was used with HYCR to generate hepatic and renal dynamic contrast enhanced images of healthy volunteers. A flexible breath-holding scheme was used to maximize patient comfort. Data was retrospectively binned into periods of no breathing motion and HYCR composite image was limited to these periods. Results show high quality DCE images with healthy uptake curves in liver parenchyma, renal cortex and renal medulla.

Yasuhiro Fujiwara¹, Hirohiko Kimura², Nobuyuki Kosaka², Tsuyoshi Matsuda³, Takuya Yachida⁴, and Toshiki Adachi^4
1University of Fukui Hospital, Fukui, Japan, ²Radiology, University of Fukui, Fukui, Japan, ³Applied Science Laboratory Asia Pacific, GE Healthcare Japan Corporation, Tokyo, Japan,⁴Radiological Center, University of Fukui Hospital, Fukui, Japan

The purpose of this study was to present the implementation of the pCASL technique in vivo RBF measurement and to evaluate the clinical feasibility with diagnostic image quality of ASL perfusion imaging of the kidney at 3.0T in the clinical setting.

Katherine L. Wright¹, Yong Chen², Mark A. Griswold^1,3, Nicole Seiberlich¹, and Vikas Gulani^1,2
1Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States, ²Radiology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States,³Radiology, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio, United States

3D through-time radial GRAPPA was used to acquire high spatiotemporal resolution data for free-breathing 4D DCE MRI of the kidneys. The data were acquired with a small temporal footprint of 2.2-2.9 s/frame (critical for quantitative analysis), made possible by the high acceleration factor (R=12.6 compared to Nyquist). A 2-compartment pharmacokinetic model of the kidneys was applied and multiple physiological parameters (cortical perfusion, mean transit time in plasma and tubules, and tubular flow) mapped. These measurements are in good agreement with the literature, thus indicating that this method may provide an accurate, quantitative clinical estimate of renal function.

Frank G. Zöllner¹, Marcel Reich¹, and Lothar R. Schad^1
1Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Dynamic contrast enhanced imaging of the kidneys using magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) is a non-invasive method for determining the renal function.Major problems for quantitative analysis are motion artifacts due to breathing of the patient preventing a valid determination of the parameters. The kidneys move mainly in head-feet direction, however sometimes not synchronous. we compared a volume-of-interest (VOI) limited registration approach to a registration of the whole volumes. The presented VOI-limited registration could reduce coronal motion in the data sets on average by 50%.

Frank G. Zöllner¹, Fabian Zimmer¹, Sarah Klotz², Simone Hoeger², and Lothar R. Schad^1
1Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, ²Department of Medicine V, University Medical Centre Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

The assessment of kidney function by measuring renal microvascular perfusion is crucial to diagnose and treat renal diseases like acute kidney injury (AKI). MRI provides two techniques to assess renal perfusion: Dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI and arterial spin labelling (ASL). DCE-MRI involves the injection of a contrast agent to measure the renal blood flow (RBF). Recently, feasibility of DCE-MRI and ASL in a model of acute kidney injury was shown [1]. In this work, we compared a deconvolution analysis and a dedicated 2 compartment filtration model for DCE-MRI quantification. Further we compared also both methods with ASL perfusion. This study showed that ASL and DCE-MRI provide significantly different values for the perfusion of healthy kidneys and kidneys with ischaemic AKI. This shows that all methods are capable of distinguishing the hypoperfusion of a kidney with AKI from the perfusion of a healthy kidney.

Hantao Jin¹, Dongping Chen², Shiyuan Liu¹, Weibo Chen³, and Queenie Chan^4
1Dept. of Radiology, ChangZheng Hospital, Shanghai, China, ²Dept. of Nephrology, ChangZheng Hospital, Shanghai, China, ³Philips Healthcare, Shanghai, China, ⁴Philips Healthcare, Hongkong, China

Ischemic acute kidney injury (AKI) is relatively common among hospitalized patients with high morbidity and mortality.Imaging examination is rarely utilized as the limited diagnostic value for AKI. Intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) MRI is a novel and noninvasive imaging method to provide functional data and is sensitive for detecting in vivo tissue injury as AKI. We herein test if the IVIM is a potential tools for the detection and monitoring of reperfusion-related injury on an ischemic AKI model.

Su Wei Lim¹, Constantina Chrysochou², David L. Buckley¹, Philip A. Kalra², and Steven Sourbron^1
1University of Leeds, Leeds, Yorkshire, United Kingdom, ²Department of Renal Medicine, Salford Royal Hospital, Salford, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom

The purpose of this study is to assess the potential of DCE-MRI measurements of renal function and perfusion to predict and evaluate functional outcome after renal artery revascularization in humans. 16 patients with renal artery stenosis underwent DCE-MRI and radioisotope measurement of single-kidney GFR at baseline, and 4 months after revascularization. Results show that DCE-MRI has the potential to replace radioisotopes for planning and follow-up of renal artery revascularisation, and may improve patient selection through the additional information on vascularity. Specifically, the data suggest that well-vascularised kidneys with low extraction fractions are most likely to benefit.

Katja Hueper¹, Martin Meier², Marcel Gutberlet¹, Song Rong³, Xia Lu⁴, Hermann Haller³, Frank Wacker¹, Dagmar Hartung¹, and Faikah Gueler^3
1Radiology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany, ²Institute of Animal Science, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany, ³Nephrology, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany, ⁴Zunyi Medical College, Wuhan, China

We investigated whether T2mapping and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) allow monitoring renal pathology after ischemia induced acute kidney injury (AKI) in mice. T2-changes after AKI were most pronounced in the outer medulla. T2-increase was significantly higher after severe than after moderate AKI and correlated with kidney volume loss at d28. ADC was significantly reduced after AKI till d28 and ADC-reduction was more pronounced after severe AKI. Correspondingly, fibrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration were higher after severe than after moderate AKI. Thus, T2mapping and DWI may help to non-invasively determine presence and severity of acute and chronic changes after AKI.

Bin Chen¹, Jian Dong², Wenchao Cai², Xiaoying Wang^1,2, Jue Zhang^1,3, and Jing Fang^1,3
1Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, Beijing, China, ²Dept. of Radiology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, Beijing, China, ³College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, Beijing, China

MR diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is a noninvasive method to provide functional status of acute ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury in kidney. The purpose of this study was to verify the possibility of DWI to evaluate the functional alterations in kidneys following IR injury in a rabbit model. ADC values of the cortex after ischemia was significantly lower than baselines in the IR injured kidney and recover to the baseline after release, while no significant alterations were found in cortex and outer medulla in the control group. DWI is a sensitive MR tool for characterizing the renal dysfunction.

Bin Chen¹, Jian Dong², Wenchao Cai², Xiaoying Wang^1,2, Jue Zhang^1,3, and Jing Fang^1,3
1Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking University, Beijing, China, ²Dept. of Radiology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China, ³College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, China

Ischemia/reperfusion injury is considered the leading cause of acute renal failure, and frequently occurs in clinic, such as renal transplantation, shock and vascular surgery. Noninvasive MRI techniques, BOLD combined with ASL have been used in this study to provide novel insights into renal physiology and pathophysiology following normothermic IR injury in rabbit model. BOLD imaging could discriminate different renal structures and is capable for evaluation of intrarenal oxygenation; meanwhile, ASL MRI is available for quantitative renal perfusion. The feasibility of monitoring acute ischemia/reperfusion injury was demonstrated and using BOLD and ASL could provide detection of contralateral renal compensation.

Christopher C. Conlin^1,2, Jeff L. Zhang^2,3, Marta E. Heilbrun^2,3, Henry Rusinek⁴, Artem V. Mikheev⁴, and Vivian S. Lee^2,3
1Department of Bioengineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, ²Utah Center for Advanced Imaging Research, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States,³Department of Radiology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, ⁴Department of Radiology, New York University, New York, New York, United States

This investigation employed Monte Carlo simulations and a patient study to examine the effects of image registration and segmentation error on the accuracy of renal functional parameter estimates as measured with dynamic Gd-MRI. Image registration and segmentation is performed as the first step in quantitative analysis of the dynamic images. Imperfect registration and segmentation may lead to errors in the estimated single kidney glomerular filtration rate (skGFR). It was found that GFR is a robust functional renal parameter that is resistant to errors introduced during registration and segmentation of Gd-MRI and that clinically acceptable GFR estimates can be obtained quickly.

Frank G. Zöllner¹, Daniel Schock-Kusch², Sandra Bäcker², Sabine Neudecker², Norbert Gretz², and Lothar R. Schad^1
1Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, ²Medical Research Center, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Recent clinical techniques for the estimation of GFR, such as clearance of inulin or sinistrin, scintigraphy with radio-labeled markers, and creatinine clearance are limited. Recent techniques to overcome some of the mentioned limitations are dynamic contrast enhanced magnet resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) or transcutaneous approaches based on fluorescent tracer molecules. The goal was to investigate if a simultaneous measurement was feasible and how MRI-GFR and optical-GFR correlate.Simultaneous measurement of the GFR by two non-invasive techniques namely, DCE-MRI and transcutaneous FITC-sinistrin clearance in rats is feasible. Furthermore, good agreement between the measured GFR values in healthy animals could be achieved.

Yudong Zhang¹, Jing Wang², and Xiaoying Wang^3
1Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital With Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China, ²Peking University, Beijing, Beijing, China, ³Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, Beijing, China

Glomerular filtration is the main function of the kidney. Currently, we have described a proposed way for determining the single kidney GFR noninvasively by using DCE-MRI. The study has demonstrated that nonionic, high-osmolality iopamidol produces an acute hemodynamic response of kidney function that is associated with a significant deficiency in cortical blood circulation following with a prominent decrease in glomerular clearance rate. These findings suggest that non-invasive MRR method may be of value for the detection and quantification of altered glomerular filtration function as the basis for the evaluation of normal and pathological states such as Contrast-induced nephropathy.

Jurgen J. Futterer^1,2, Hersh Chandarana³, Henry Rusinek², Arthem Mikeev², Josef Pfeuffer⁴, and Eric E. Sigmund^2
158957, Radboud Univeristy Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Gld, Netherlands, ²Dept of Radiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States, ³Radiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, United States, ⁴MR applications development, Siemens Medical system, Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany

The Zoomed-EPI DTI technique provides superior image quality of the kidney to standard single-shot, twice refocused spin echo EPI in clinically relevant scan times and with minimal artifacts.

Yasufumi Noda¹, Akihiko Kanki¹, Akira Yamamoto¹, Tsutomu Tamada¹, Yasokawa Kazuya¹, Atsushi Higaki¹, Tomohiro Sato¹, and Katsuyoshi Ito^1
1Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan

The purpose of this study is to investigate the correlation between renal cortical thickness and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) by clearly depicting renal corticomedullary differentiation using steady-state free precession (SSFP) MRI with a spatially selective IR pulse. There was a positive correlation between minimal renal cortical thickness and eGFR. However, there were no significant correlations between maximal renal length and eGFR. This fact suggested that measurement of renal cortical thickness by non-contrast-enhanced SSFP MRI with a spatially selective IR pulse has a potential to evaluate the renal function with higher sensitivity than maximal renal length.

Ying Gao^1,2, Yong Chen¹, Bernadette O. Erokwu¹, Lan Lu¹, Katherine MacRae Dell³, and Chris A. Flask^1,2
1Radiology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States, ²Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States,³Pediatrics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States

Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease (ARPKD) is a multiorgan pediatric disease that manifests as progressively increasing renal cysts as well as liver biliary dilatation and congenital hepatic fibrosis. Unfortunately, there are no tools available to effectively monitor ARPKD kidney and liver disease progression which directly limits the development of therapeutic trials. We are currently developing quantitative MRI assessments of ARPKD kidney and liver disease using the PCK rat model that exhibits both kidney and liver diseases associated with ARPKD. In this study we have developed an improved T2 relaxation acquisition to reliably distinguish renal and hepatic pathology from healthy tissue.

Umit Yoruk¹, Manojkumar Saranathan², Brian Andrew Hargreaves², and Shreyas S. Vasanawala^2
1Electrical Engineering, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, United States, ²Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States

Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is an indicator of kidney function and can be measured by dynamic MR Urography (MRU). We assess the GFR estimation based on a high spatiotemporal resolution DCE method called DISCO. The acquisition parameters affect the temporal resolution and the temporal footprint of the dataset. We optimized the acquisition strategy by creating a digital phantom (based on 2-compartment model), simulating the acquisition with different parameters and comparing the estimated Ktrans to the original Ktrans value we used to create the phantom. Upon validation of the method, we presented a clinical case to demonstrate DISCO-MRU.

Akihiko Kanki¹, Katsuyoshi Ito¹, Tsutomu Tamada¹, Yasufumi Noda¹, Atsushi Higaki¹, Tomohiro Sato¹, Kazuya Yasokawa¹, and Akira Yamamoto^1
1Radiology, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan

The aim of this study was to compare the renal cortical thicknesses between cirrhotic and noncirrhotic patients with normal renal functions based on serum creatinine by using noncontrast-enhanced SSFP MR imaging with spatially selective IR pulse. The serum creatinine levels and eGFRs did not significantly differ between the cirrhotic and noncirrhotic groups. Conversely, the mean renal cortical thickness and renal cortical width ratio of the cirrhotic group were significantly lower than those for the noncirrhotic group. This suggests that these measurements by noncontrast-enhanced SSFP MR imaging with spatially selective IR pulse would help evaluate renal function in cirrhotic patients.

Kai Zhao¹, Jia Liu¹, Yudong Zhang², and Xiaoying Wang^1
1Department of Radiology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, Beijing, China, ²Department of Radiology, Jiangsu Province Hospital, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

With increased usage of iodinated contrast medium (CM), contrast-induced nephropathy (CIN) has become one of the most prevalent causes of acute renal failure. But the mechanisms are still not fully understood. The osmolality of contrast media is considered to play an important role in the pathogenesis of CIN. We used an animal model and diffusion-weighted MRI to assess the effects of CM on intrarenal water transport function between low osmolality CM (iopamidol 370) and isometric osmolality CM (iodixanol-320). Our time course study indicated that the former CM produced a more progressive and long-lasting reduction in intrarenal diffusion the latter one.

Jing Wang¹, Yudong Zhang², Jue Zhang¹, Xiaoying Wang³, and Jing Fang^4
1Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Peking Unversity, Beijing, China, ²Department of Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital With Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China, Beijing, China, ³Department of Radiology, Peking University First Hospital, Beijing, China, ⁴Peking University, Beijing, China

This study developed an approach for renal perfusion and glomerular filtration rate mapping based on the combination of pulsed arterial spin labeling technique and a spin-echo EPI with multiple TEs sequence on clinical 3T MR. Each of ten healthy young subjects accepted 12 breath-hold ASL scans for different TEs acquisition. Based on the proposed method, the RBF, blood R2* and GFR maps were obtained simultaneously. We hope that this MR technique can be combined with other functional methods to provide a complete noninvasive assessment of renal status in a single examination.

Chunqi Qian¹, Der-Yow Chen¹, Nikorn Pothayee¹, Stephen Dodd¹, Joseph Murphy-Boesch¹, and Alan P. Koretsky^1
1National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, United States

A Wireless Amplified NMR Detector has been chronically implanted onto the medial surface of a rat¡¯s kidney to improve the local detection sensitivity. High resolution microstructures of the kidney, such as the glomeruli and renal tubules, have been simultaneously observed in vivo with Manganese-enhanced MRI.

Jorge Chacon Caldera¹, Philipp Krämer¹, Raffi Kalayciyan¹, Lothar R. Schad¹, Sabine Neudecker², Stefania Geraci², and Norbert Gretz^2
1Computer Assisted Clinical Medicine, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany, ²Institute for Medical Technology, Heidelberg University, Mannheim, Germany

The filtration of the blood to maintain balance between salt and water, and the waste elimination is performed in the kidneys by the glomeruli. Glomerular number is, therefore, a very important indicator of the functioning status of the kidneys. Quantification of glomeruli could help diagnose kidney malfunctioning and prevent CKD. The Alderman-Grant resonator is a volumetric probe, which solves the problem of homogeneity; it has good response in UHF so it can be flexible in the dimensions while being efficient at high field NMR [4]. An Alderman-Grant resonator was chosen for its characteristics that match the requirements of the glomerular imaging, and a dedicated MRI probe was built. A comparison between a cryogenic surface probe and the dedicated AVR probe for glomerular imaging is presented.

Scott Charles Beeman¹, Maria Veronica Clavijo Jordan¹, Edwin J. Baldelomar¹, and Kevin M. Bennett^1
1Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States

The goal of this work is to develop a non-invasive, MRI-based method for detecting kidney glomeruli in vivo. We have previously shown that kidney glomeruli may be detected in vivo using the glomerulus-specific contrast agent cationized ferritin (CF), though it is quite difficult to detect the superparamagnetic CF against the dark blood background of the kidney. Here we show that a paramagnetic version of CF, called paraCF, may be created to label kidney glomeruli and render then highly detectable in vivo with T₁-weighted MRI.

Scott Charles Beeman¹, John F. Bertram², Jennifer R. Charlton³, Teresa Wu¹, Min Zhang¹, and Kevin M. Bennett^1
1Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States, ²Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia, ³University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States

Glomerular number plays an important role in a wide range of renal and systemic diseases, though the techniques currently employed to count glomeruli are estimates extrapolated from a small sample. A method for counting every glomerulus in the kidney would provide information never before available. Here, we demonstrate the first steps taken towards visualizing and counting all glomeruli in the mouse kidney. With the huge library of transgenic mouse models employed in kidney research, such a technique may prove vital to basic kidney research.

Scott Charles Beeman¹, John F. Bertram², Jennifer R. Charlton³, Teresa Wu¹, Min Zhang¹, and Kevin M. Bennett^1
1Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States, ²Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia, ³University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, United States

The goal of this work was to measure the number (Nglom) and the volume (Vglom) of every glomerulus in human transplant kidneys using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the glomerulus-specific contrast agent cationized ferritin (CF). Changes in the number and size of glomeruli have been linked to ~90% of all chronic renal diseases and many systemic diseases though these measurements are clinically impossible. As a proof of concept, we will show that all perfused glomeruli in human transplant kidneys may be visualized, counted, and their sizes measured using CF and MRI.

Akira Yamamoto¹, Katsuyoshi Ito¹, Yasufumi Noda¹, Akihiko Kanki¹, Atsushi Higaki¹, Daigo Tanimoto¹, and Tsutomu Tamada^1
1Radiology, Kawasaki Medical School, Kurashiki, Okayama, Japan

44 patients who underwent abdominal MR imaging at 3.0T system including GRE sequences with and without MT pulse were included. MT ratio of the renal cortex and medulla was measured. The relationship between eGFR and MTR of the renal cortex and medulla was determined by linear regression analysis. Regression analysis showed good correlation between eGFR and MTR of the renal cortex (r=-0.645, p<0.0001), although regression analysis showed no significant relationship between eGFR and MTR of the renal medulla (r=0.008, p=0.96). This technique has a potential to evaluate the degree of renal function non-invasively in patients with renal impairment.

Zaheer Akhtar¹, David J. Niles², Omeed Hafez³, Daniela Cornejo², Shannon Raye Reese³, Nancy Ann Schlei³, Sean B. Fain², Arjang Djamali³, and Elizabeth A. Sadowski^1
1Radiology, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, United States, ²Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, United States, ³Nephrology, University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, United States

Recent studies have linked the use of Cyclosporin A (CsA) to end stage renal disease in solid organ transplant patients. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of CsA nephrotoxicity would allow for possible therapeutic strategies to be identified. The Nox2 enzyme has been shown to play an important role in CsA induced nephrotoxicity. Renal oxygenation and kidney function were analyzed using BOLD MRI and BUN analysis respectively in wildtype and Nox2 null mice treated with CsA. Preliminary results with BOLD oxygenation measurements and BUN analysis show expected changes upon treatment of CsA in Nox2 null mice.

Xiang He¹, Serter Gumus¹, Ayaz Aghayev¹, and Kyongtae Ty Bae^1
1Department of Radiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

While MR-based renal quantitative BOLD (qBOLD) can provide in vivo, absolute assessment of intra-renal oxygenation, the effect of water diffusion to the accuracy of renal qBOLD estimation has not been investigated. In this study, we compared the gradient-echo versus spin-echo acquisitions for the quantification of intra-renal oxygenation using the qBOLD technique. The estimated intra-renal oxygenation level was significantly higher with the spin-echo based acquisition, suggesting the potential role of water diffusion in renal qBOLD quantification.

Glen Morrell¹, Eun-Kee Jeong¹, Xianfeng Shi¹, Lei Zhang¹, and Vivian S. Lee^1
1Utah Center for Advanced Imaging Research, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

A prospectively navigated free breathing multiple echo GRE sequence with constant repetition time has been implemented to improve T2* estimation in the kidneys (renal BOLD imaging). The new sequence allows imaging times longer than a single breath hold, enabling the flexible tradeoff of imaging time for resolution and SNR. The new sequence gives renal T2* maps with markedly improved resolution and SNR compared to conventional single breath hold imaging.

Andrea S. Kierans¹, Henry Rusinek¹, Andrew Lee², William C. Huang³, and Hersh Chandarana^1
1Radiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, NYC, NY, United States, ²NYU Langone Medical Center, NYC, NY, United States, ³Urology, NYU Langone Medical Center, NYC, NY, United States

Renal cell cancer (RCC) stage has important prognostic and treatment implications. It is not possible to reliably stage RCC on pre-operative conventional imaging. In this study we assessed tumor signal characteristics and lesion texture in 65 RCCs who underwent MRI before resection. There were no significant difference in lesion signal characteristics, however, there were differences in second order texture parameters between low and high stage RCC. Textural differences in ADC and post-contrast exam correctly discriminated 92% of these tumors. Future work is needed to validate size and texture model on an independent cohort to predict preoperative RCC stage.

Jie Chen¹, Jiule Ding¹, Changping Wu², Wei Xing¹, Jingting Jiang², Tongbing Chen³, Jun Sun¹, Yongming Dai⁴, Ewart Mark Haacke⁵, and Jiani Hu^5
1Radiology, Affiliated Third Hospital of Suzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China, ²Oncology, Affiliated Third Hospital of Suzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China,³Pathology, Affiliated Third Hospital of Suzhou University, Changzhou, Jiangsu, China, ⁴Siemens Healthcare China, MR Collaboration NE Asia, Shanghai, Shanghai, China, ⁵Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States

Many treatment options exist nowadays in the management of renal rell carcinomas. Preoperative evaluation of clear cell renal rell carcinomas (CRCC) grades is important for deciding therapy. We used oxygen level-dependent magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the correlation between R2* values and CRCC grade. Our results demonstrated that R2* values of low-grade tumors were lower than that of high-grade tumors and there was a positive relationship between R2* value and CRCC grade. Moreover, T2*-weighted images can detect intratumoral hemorrhage more sensitively than conventional T1- and T2-weighted MRI, thus offering improved accuracy by reducing the influence of hemorrhage on R2* values.

Mohammed Shaikh¹, Natasha E. Wehrli¹, Jonathan Melamed², Samir S. Taneja³, and Andrew B. Rosenkrantz^1
1Radiology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, New York, United States, ²Pathology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, New York, United States, ³Urologic Oncology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York, New York, United States

We identified renal masses measuring up to 2 cm that underwent biopsy or resection following MRI. 93 masses in 87 patients were identified. 73% were malignant; 27% were benign. Two radiologists independently assessed each mass for microscopic lipid, hemorrhage, T2-hyperintensity, T2-homogeneity, cystic/necrotic areas, hypervacularity, homogeneous enhancement, circumscribed margins, and exophytic location. No MRI feature showed a significant difference in frequency between benign and malignant masses for either reader. In addition, there was no significant difference in age, gender, or lesion size, between benign and malignant masses. Further analysis will explore role of additional clinical features in this differentiation.

Hina Arif-Tiwari¹, David Becker-Weidman², Bobby T. Kalb¹, and Diego R. Martin^1
1Medical Imaging, University of Arizona, College of Medicine, Tucson, AZ, United States, ²Radiology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, United States

Lipid poor AA may be distinguished from malignant adrenal lesions with high specificity through combined assessment of dynamic, postcontrast 3D T1W and ssT2 sequences. Excluding metastatic HCC, there is a 100% PPV for distinguishing lipid poor adrenal adenoma from MA.

Sabine Amet¹, Vincent Launay-Vacher¹, Gilbert Deray², Aurore Tricotel³, Camille Francès⁴, Jean-Yves Gauvrit⁵, Nicolas Grenier⁶, Geneviève Reinhardt⁷, Maurice Laville⁸, Nicolas Janus¹, Laurence Rouillon¹, Gabriel Choukroun⁹, and Olivier Clément^10
1Service ICAR, Nephrology department, Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, Paris, France, ²Nephrology, Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, Paris, France, ³Pharmacovigilance, ANSM, Saint-Denis Cedex, France, ⁴Dermatology, Tenon Hospital, Paris cedex 20, France, ⁵Radiology, Pontchaillou Hospital, Rennes cedex 09, France, ⁶Radiology, Pellegrin Hospital, Bordeaux, France, ⁷Radiology, Haguenau Hospital, Haguenau, France, ⁸Nephrology, Edouard Herriot Hospital, Lyon, France, ⁹Nephrology, South Hospital, Amiens, France, ¹⁰Radiology, European G. Pompidou Hospital, Paris cedex 15, France

Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF) is a cutaneous disorder characterized by widespread tissue fibrosis. Although the exact physiopathology is still unknown, emergence of NSF has been linked with gadolinium based contrast media (GBCA). The Pro-FINEST study was supported by the French societies of dermatology, nephrology and radiology, and the university seminars of nephrology. The study was sponsored by the French drug agency (ANSM) and the French society of radiology. It aims at determining the prevalence of NSF after a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) examination, with or without GBCA, in chronic dialysis patients.

Byung Chul Kang^1
1Chung Ang University Hospital, Seoul, Korea

High doses of gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs), and possibly use of linear nonionic GBCAs, contribute to increased risk of Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis (NSF). Patients with severely impaired kidney function have an increased risk to develop NSF. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to prospectively estimate the incidence of NSF after injection of gadoterate meglumine not only in patients with severe renal impairment, but also in patients with moderate renal impairment. This interim safety analysis already confirms the very good safety profile of gadoterate meglumine in renal impaired patients.

Mikiko Miyasaka¹, Shunsuke Nosaka¹, Eriko Otsubo¹, Hiroshi Nagamatsu¹, Katsuhiko Ueoka², Yuichi Hasegawa², Izumi Kanemitsu², Masayuki Kitamura¹, Hidekazu Masaki¹, Masato Uchikoshi³, and Peter Gall^4
1Radiology, National Center for Child Health and Development, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan, ²Urology, National Center for Child Health and Development, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan, ³Siemens Japan K. K., Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, Japan, ⁴Siemens AG, Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany

For children with renal disorders, MR urography is a usefulness tool to define the anatomy without using ionizing radiation. Furthermore, DCE-MRU helps to diagnose differential renal function (DRF). Recent reports are shown that DRF of DCE-MRU is correlated with 99mTc-DTPA. However, there are few reports comparing DCE-MRU and MAG3 results. This purpose is to evaluate the usefulness of DRF DCE-MRU in comparison to MAG3 using the demonstrator software of Patlak-Rutland plot technique released by Siemens. In our results, DRF of DCE-MRU was well correlated with MAG 3 as well as DTPA. Our result is in agreement with previous reports.

Silvina P. Dutruel¹, Nanda Deepa Thimmappa¹, Pascal Spincemaille¹, Bo Xu¹, Yi Wang¹, and Martin R. Prince^1
1Radiology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, United States

Ureteral peristaltic wave frequency and velocity are imaged non-invasively 20 minutes post-gadoxetate disodium injection when there is maximal ureter to tissue contrast. A spiral 3D reconstructed at 4 frames per second from 60 seconds of data captures peristalsis adequately to resolve wave peaks for frequency and velocity calculations.

Aki Kido¹, Koji Fujimoto¹, Kayo Kiguchi¹, Fuki Shitano¹, Kyoko Takakura¹, Sayaka Daido¹, Yuki Himoto¹, Ayako Ninomiya², Hiroshi Kusahara², and Kaori Togashi^1
1Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, ²Toshiba Medical Systems Corporation, Otawara, Tochigi, Japan

There have been several reports about non-contrast-enhanced MRA of renal artery or hepatic vessels, but not for uterine artery. As for uterine artery, we should consider the distance from aortic artery and there are two vessels that reach the uterus bilaterally. We aimed to evaluate the reasonable BBTI for obtaining non-contrast-enhanced MRA of uterine artery using time-SLIP technique at 3.0-T. By evaluation of qualitative and quantitative analysis of arterial and background signals, the optimal BBTI for visualizing uterine artery by time-SLIP technique were between 1400-1600msec..

Masako Kataoka¹, Ken Tamai², Toshihiro Higuchi³, Ayako Suzuki⁴, Aki Kido¹, Sayaka Daido¹, Asako Nakai⁵, Koji Fujimoto¹, Ikuo Konishi⁶, and Kaori Togashi^1
1Diagnostic Radiology, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, ²Radiology, Kyoto-katsura hospital, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, ³Gynecology, Shiga-medical center for adults, Moriyama, Shiga, Japan, ⁴Gynecology, Otsu-municipal hospital, Otsu, Shiga, Japan, ⁵Radiology, Hikone municipal hospital, Hikone, Shiga, Japan, ⁶Gynecology and Obstetrics, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

We evaluated cine MR findings of the uterus in 7 patients with dysmenorrhea associated with endometriosis, changes of these findings after treatment of low dose contraceptives (LOC), with association of these findings with degree of pain. Pre/post-treatment MRI were obtained with 60 image/3 min in a midsagittal plane of the uterus using HASTE sequence, displayed in cine mode to evaluate JZ thickness, endometrial distortion, and frequency of peristalsis. After treatment, endometrial distortion, peristalsis frequencies, and degree of pain were significantly decreased. Endometrial distortion were mildly associated with pain. Cine MRI may be a promising tool in this context.

Gui ping Xu¹, Qiuping Wang¹, and Hua Chen^1
1Radiology, the First Affiliated Hospital£¬Medical School of Xi¡¯an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, Shann Xi, China

This study evaluated cervical carcinoma using magnetic resonance imaging(MRI), correlate with clinical approach of International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) staging system.The results suggested that MRI should be considered prior to treatment planning in every patient

Uday Krishnamurthy¹, Yimin Shen², Jaladhar Neelavalli², Gabor Szalai³, Bing Wang³, Tinnakorn Chaiworapongsa^3,4, Edgar Hernandez-Andrade^3,4, Nandor Gabor Than^3,4, Ewart Mark Haacke², and Roberto Romero^3
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States, ²Department of Radiology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States, ³Perinatology Research Branch, NICHD, NIH, DHHS, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States, ⁴Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States

We have measured the T2 relaxation times of the placenta in normal mice pregnancy, measured at two different gestational ages (12 and 17 days)

Steve Bandula¹, Sanjay Banypersad², Daniel Sado², Stuart Taylor¹, Shonit Punwani¹, and James Moon^2
1Centre for Medical Imaging, University College London, London, London, United Kingdom, ²The Heart Hospital, University College London Hospital, London, London, United Kingdom

Equilibrium MRI (EQ-MRI) is a new technique that can quantify extracellular volume fraction and has been used to measure diffuse myocardial fibrosis. In this study, EQ-MRI is utilized to define the extracellular volume within healthy abdominal organs and demonstrate a significant increase in tissue ECV in patients with amyloidosis – a disease defined by extracellular deposition of abnormal proteins.

Basil Künnecke¹, Andreas Bruns¹, and Olaf Kuhlmann^2
1Behavioural Pharmacology & Preclinical Imaging, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland, ²Non-Clinical Safety, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Basel, Switzerland

Subcutaneous injection is an established route of administration for pharmacological interventions but the interaction of the drugs’ fate at the injection site and the ensuing pharmacokinetics has largely remained unexplored. Here, in vivo MRI was used to address this question for the peptidic anti-diabetic agent taspoglutide with the aim of providing a mechanistic rationale for the complex pharmacokinetics observed for its sustained release formulation. Different injection conditions were compared for their performance in a rat model of type 2 diabetes. MRI yielded estimates of depot formation and dissolution that were related to the pharmacokinetics of taspoglutide.

Rheal A. Towner¹, Nataliya Smith¹, Debra Saunders¹, Jorge Carrizales¹, Florea Lupu², Robert Silasi-Mansat², Kenneth Humphries³, Shraddha Vadvakar³, Marilyn I. Ehrenshaft⁴, and Ronald P. Mason^4
1Advanced Magnetic Resonance Center, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States, ²Cardiovascular Biology, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States, ³Free Radical Biology & Medicine, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK, United States, ⁴Laboratory of Pharmacology & Chemistry, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC, United States

Free radicals have been shown to play a major role in the pathogenesis associated with cardiac problems in diabetes. This study reports on in vivo imaging of membrane bound radicals (MBR) with the use of molecular MRI (mMRI) and immuno-spin trapping (IST) on diabetic cardiac muscle in a streptozotocin (STZ)-induced model. The spin trapping compound DMPO (5,5-dimethyl-pyrroline-N-oxide) is used to trap radicals that can be recognized by an anti-DMPO probe with an albumin-anti-DMPO-antibody-Gd-DTPA-biotin construct. This method can be used to understand the role of free radicals in cardiac-related pathogenesis in diabetes.

Jean-Marie Verret¹, Frank Pilleul², Olivier Beuf³, and Cecile Rabrait^4
1CREATIS, Villeurbanne, France, Metropolitan, ²Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France, Metropolitan, ³CREATIS, Lyon, France, Metropolitan, ⁴General Electric Healthcare, Velizy, France, Metropolitan

Spectroscopy is an alternative to histopathology as it is less invasive and less expensive but still allows a chemical insight of the human body. Nevertheless, to perform spectroscopy acquisitions on the rectal wall is challenging. Moreover, multichannel surface coils do not give optimal results due to a lack of SNR. On the contrary, endoluminal coils, which have been shown to provide a much higher local SNR, could be more suited to this purpose. The feasibility of spectroscopic acquisitions with an endoluminal coil was assessed and promising results were obtained using ultem as a susceptibility matching material

Neil Birkbeck¹, Nathan Lay¹, Jingdan Zhang¹, Artem Gritsenko¹, Jens Guehring², and S. Kevin Zhou^1
1Imaging & Computer Vision, Siemens Corp., Corporate Technology, Princeton, NJ, United States, ²Imaging & Therapy Division, Siemens Healthcare, Erlangen, Germany

We investigate automatic multi-organ localization in large FoV localizer datasets acquired using a fast continuously moving table technique (syngo TimCT FastView, Siemens AG, Erlangen, Germany). We developed a fast learning-based detection and segmentation method for 6 organs including liver, heart, lungs, and kidneys. The automatically identified anatomical information allows for precise automated scan planning based on an organ or structure of interest. We compare the accuracy of our detection and segmentation routines on ground truth annotations from 196 full body MR scout scans and achieve segmentation accuracy that are within the voxel spacing on average and are computed in under 8s.

Danny Lee¹, Peter Greer², Jameen Arm³, Paul Keall¹, and Taeho Kim^1
1Radiation Physics Laboratory, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia, ²The University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia, ³Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital, Newcastle, NSW, Australia

Audiovisual (AV) biofeedback system has been employed to provide respiratory guidance during MR scans. The respiratory motion signals were obtained using real-time position management system to monitor a marker block on the abdomen. Respiratory-related motion artifacts have been noticeably reduced between breathing types (free and AV biofeedback) and scan time has been reduced for gated 3D MRI. Consequently, the improvement was from respiratory motion reproducibility, leading to regular internal organ displacement during gated 3D MR imaging. This study was the first to demonstrate that audiovisual biofeedback improves image quality and reduces scan time for gated 3D MRI.

Alexander Ciritsis¹, Nienke Lynn Hansen¹, Alexandra Barabasch¹, Nicolas Kuehnert², Jens Otto², Joachim Conze², Christiane Kuhl¹, and Nils Andreas Kraemer^1
1Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, RWTH University Hospital, Aachen, NRW, Germany, ²Surgery, RWTH University Hospital, Aachen, NRW, Germany

Using iron-loaded visible mesh implants, 13 patients were examined one day after surgery using gradient echo sequences at 1.5 Tesla. Up to now (November 2012), two patients were additionally scanned after 90 days and meshes were digitally reconstructed. Time-dependent mesh deformation and shrinkage was assessed. The preliminary results (2/13 patients) indicate that the concept of scar-induced mesh shrinkage might have to be reconsidered. The remaining 11 patients are scheduled up to January 2013.

Gunhild Erstad Aandal¹, Gurpreet S. Sandhu¹, Ronald D. Novak¹, Dean Nakamoto¹, Luis Landeras¹, Mark A. Griswold^1,2, Paul de Heer³, Andrew G. Webb³, and Vikas Gulani^1,2
1Dept. of Radiology, University Hospitals Case Medical Center, Cleveland, OHIO, United States, ²Dept. of Biomedical Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OHIO, United States, ³Dept. of Radiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, ZA, Netherlands

3T abdominal imaging is limited by image quality loss due to inhomogeneities in the transmitted RF field, even with dual channel transmit. Recent simulation and in vivo volunteer studies have shown that thin pads made with novel high permittivity materials are a simple, inexpensive solution to ameliorate these problems. Here we show pilot patient studies comparing image quality without and with these pads, for 3D fat suppressed gradient echo imaging of the abdomen in a dual transmit 3T system. The preliminary data confirm the potential of these pads for use in improving image quality for abdominal imaging at 3T.

Janet Friedrich¹, Julia Schröder¹, Sarah Kindgen², Stefan Fischer¹, Mark Schuppert¹, Karsten Gogoll², Peter Langguth², and Laura Maria Schreiber^1
1Department of Radiology, Johannes Gutenberg University Medical Center, Mainz, Germany, ²Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology and Biopharmacy, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany

Oral applications represent the most important way for administration of active pharmaceutical ingredients. The present work introduces an MRI technique which allows for the investigation of these processes. A ¹⁹F solenoid transmit and receive coil was built for in vitro MRI in microcentrifuge-tubes. It provided homogenous RF transmission and reception throughout the whole measurement volume. Perfluoro crown ether emulsion embedded in alginate capsules was imaged. The exponential dissolution process of fluor tablets in water within a 1.5-mL-microcentrifuge-tube was visualized successfully for 15 minutes using ¹⁹F-MRS.

James F. Glockner¹ and Christine U. Lee^1
1Radiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, United States

Many current MR enterography protocols include axial and coronal 2D SSFP acquisitions, requiring multiple breath holds and often necessitating two doses of an antiperistaltic agent. We examine the feasibility of a single breath held coronal 3D SSFP acquisition with spatial resolution adequate for high quality axial reformatted views. Preliminary data in a small series of patients suggests that this technique generates images of excellent quality and may allow for a shorter and more efficient enterography protocol.