yitong bian, jian yang, zhijie jian, junjun li, zhe liu, guogang luo

Migraine is a complicated neurological disability disease and still not been clarified. PFO may be a subset to cause migraine. Therefore, this study aims to analysis the value of PFO in grey matter and white matter lesions of migraine. We found that the changes mainly in frontal cortex, precentral gyrus regions of pain modulating area between patients with PFO and without PFO in migraine. However, out results do not support the relationship between PFO and white matter lesions. This findings may provide a new insight for clinical treat strategy. 

Haojiang Li, Chunyan Cui, Fei Xie, Jian Zhou, Annan Dong, Huali Ma, Lizhi Liu

We aimed to investigate whether the number of metastatic lymph nodes (LNs) is an independent prognostic factor for progression-free survival (PFS) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and to establish a new N staging system based on the number of positive LNs on magnetic resonance imaging. In 792 NPC patients, we found that the number of metastatic LNs was the only independent prognostic factor for PFS following multivariate analysis. We categorized the number of metastatic LNs into 4 groups to create a new N staging system which was more effective than the American Joint Committee on Cancer staging system for predicting PFS. 

Chia-Wei Li, Ai-Ling Hsu, Chien-Yuan Lin, Charng-Chyi Shieh, Wing P. Chan

This study aimed to verify the accuracy of quantitative T₁ and T₂ estimation generated from a synthetic MR imaging method, MAGiC by comparing these results with conventional scanning on a homemade phantom with 9 concentration of aqueous CuSO₄, and our result showed that the quantitative estimations were inaccurate in the CSF regions. In addition, the MAGiC synthetic image contrast was evaluated in both healthy volunteers and stroke patients. Agreed with the quantitative estimations, the CSF regions caused the apparent contrast differences.

Chia-Wei Li, Ai-Ling Hsu, Chien-Yuan Lin, Charng-Chyi Shieh, Jianxun Qu, Guido Buonincontri, Wing P. Chan

Quantifying tissue T₁ and T₂ provides valuable biomarker for characterizing various tissue pathologies yet limits by its long scan time and consequently hampered their clinical practice. Magnetic resonance image compilation (MAGiC) and Magnetic resonance fingerprinting (MRF) are novel imaging techniques that simultaneously provide quantitative maps of tissue relaxation times at one acquisition. We compared the quantitative values in various brain tissue using the MAGiC and MRF in healthy volunteers. In quantifying T₁ between two techniques, no significant difference was found in white matter and gray matter, but difference was observed in cerebrospinal fluid. On the contrary, T₂ value showed significant difference.

Jakob Slipsager, Stefan Glimberg, Daniel Gallichan, Liselotte Højgaard, Rasmus Paulsen, Oline Olesen

This work demonstrates retrospective motion correction using a markerless motion tracker to accommodate the needs in the clinical workflow. Motion degradation in neurological MRI imaging is a major concern and causes increased study time and cost due to repeated scans and the need for sedation or anesthesia. With retrospective motion correction of raw k-space data, both the corrected and non-corrected images can be reconstructed and presented for the radiologists within a few minutes. The external markerless motion tracker is sequence independent meaning that retrospective motion correction can be applied to clinical examination without sequence modification or added scan time.

zhengyang zhou, Jian He, Weibo Chen

Forty-one patients with NPC underwent T2 mapping and mDIXON Quant imaging for parotid glands before RT, mid-RT, and post-RT. From pre-RT to mid-RT, parotid T2 and FF values increased significantly. From mid-RT to post-RT, parotid T2 value continuously increased, but parotid FF value decreased significantly. Change rate of parotid T2 value significantly correlated with parotid atrophy rate from pre-RT to post-RT. Parotid T2 value and FF value negatively correlated with parotid volume, while parotid T2 value positively correlated with MR scan time point significantly. T2 mapping and mDIXON Quant imaging is useful for noninvasive evaluation of radiation-induced parotid damage.

Antonio Napolitano, Martina Lucignani, Francesca Bottino, Anna Nigri, Domenico Aquino, Fulvia Palesi, Maria Grazia Bruzzone, Michela Tosetti, Claudia Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott, the Italian IRCCS advanced neuroimaging network

A multicenter network of Italian Neurological Research Hospital was recently started. Its first aim was to establish quality assessment protocols for future quantitative imaging studies. In this context, we report the outcome of the first 6 months of data collection using a dedicated phantom and processing pipeline. Scanner performance was assessed in terms of several stability indicators, grouped by manufacturer. The preliminary results represent the initial step towards a large-scale scanner stability assessment in clinical settings. We expected to gather regular data from all the sites in order to broaden data analysis and assess the multi-site temporal stability.

El-Sayed Ibrahim, Kevin Koch

Conventional cine imaging consumes a large part of scan time due to the need to acquire a stack of short-axis and long-axis slices. In this study, we provide preliminary results about the feasibility of a single-breath-hold whole-heart-coverage accelerated 3D-cine acquisition in a fraction of this time using recent developments in acquisition and reconstruction techniques. The results shows significantly reduction of scan time by more than 90%. Despite encountered reduction in resolutions, SNR and CNR, sufficient image quality was maintained such that the resulting clinical measurements were not significantly different from those obtained using conventional cine acquisition.

E Tuya, Ou Yanghan, Xie Lizhi

Hypovascular hypointense nodules detected in the hepatobiliary phase (HBP) of gadoxetic acid-enhanced MRI have significant potential to transform into hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aims to assess the risk factors for hypervascular transformation and to enable guiding the clinical treatment properly.

Xuemei Wang, Mingjia Niu, Lanxiang Liu, Yuan Fang, Tao Zheng, Juan Du, Qinglei Shi, Shuang Wu, Jinglong Li

   Recent studies have reported that lipid infiltration (LIPG) may be one of the mechanisms of salivary secretion decrease in diabetic patients. In this study, we compared the difference of ADCs between normal and patients before and after stimulation. It demonstrated that diffusion-weighted echo-planar MR imaging allows non-invasive quantification of functional changes in the parotid glands and the feasibility in reflecting the degree of fat deposition in parotid gland caused by parotid dysfunction.

Karthick Raj Rajendran, Dr. Rakesh. K. Gupta, Rupsa Bhattacharjee

Compressed SENSE i.e parallel imaging combined with Compressed Sensing, plays a vital role in reducing the overall imaging time without compromising the image quality. Objective of the study is to analyze the impact of using Compressed SENSE to improve the patient comfort by reducing the scan time. This is achieved by implementing Compressed SENSE in T1, T2, PD Weighted TSE, T1 & T2 FFE based sequences in 2D & 3D mode in routine MR Examinations.

Yang Li, Yan Sha, Feng Wang, Ping Lu, Lan Liu, Ru Sheng, Shuai Zhang, Xiao Liu

Both intratympanic (IT-method) and intravenous (IV-method) administration of gadodiamide are used to detect endolymphatic hydrops. The purpose of our study was to comprehensively compare the image quality of the two methods. By qualitative and quantitative comparison, the IV-method can be used as an alternative to the IT-method in future clinical applications.

Yue Gao, Qiang Liu, Qi Li, Jiazheng Wang, Shinong Pan

We compared the MRI images of peripheral skeletal muscle atrophy and steatosis between heathy children and children with Slipped Capital Femoral Epiphysis (SCFE). Statistical analysis revealed the correlation between the two pathological changes in MRI images and the incidence of SCFE,and get the threshold value of two indicators leading to the onset of SCFE,which holds potential for the guidance on clinical diagnosis and therapy plan for SCFE.

Ryan Breighner, Erin Argentieri, Alissa Burge, Matthew Koff, Hollis Potter

Zero Echo Time (ZTE) MRI affords CT-like positive contrast visualization of bone This study highlights instances in which ZTE imaging proved clinically useful as an adjunct to standard-of-care MRI in diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries. Cases are presented in which patient circumstances (pregnancy, age, prior imaging, etc.) coupled with the underlying pathology resulted in added diagnostic, safety, monetary, and/or temporal value for the patient or care team. This study coupled with our prior work indicates that ZTE imaging can provide a suitable alternative to CT and, in certain circumstances may in fact, be preferable.  

Weizheng Gao, Chengyan Wang, Hanjing Kong, Min Yang, Xiaodong Zhang, Jue Zhang, Xiaoying Wang

As a recently proposed novel pulse sequence, the pulse-shifting multi-echo asymmetric spin echo (psMASE) can isolate R2’ in real time. Combined with gas challenge, it can be used to evaluate acute renal injury (AKI) quantitatively. In this study, we further investigated the feasibility of the change of R2' value (dR2’) in distinguishing different severities of AKI using this sequence. Results suggested that there was significant difference between the different severities of AKI and dR2’, which indicating that the dR2' value can serve as a potential quantitative indicator for acute renal injury evaluation.

baohong wen, bing wu, yang fan, jingliang cheng

4D flow shows great potential in neurovascular disorders such as stenosis, atherosclerotic disease, aneurysms, and vascular malformations; its widespread application in neurovascular system requires evidence of good test-retest multi-site reproducibility. This study would like to assess the multi-center reproducibility, test-retest variability and inter-observer dependence of 4D flow MRI in neurovascular system. 
 

Hui Zhao, Li Xin Sun, Weiqiang Dou, Jin Ye Li, Na Hu, Ruo Zhen Gong

This study mainly investigated the feasibility of three-dimensional (3D) CUBE MRI for high resolution facial nerve imaging in patients with peripheral paralysis. We thus systematically measured the corresponding patients with three different syndromes using 3D fat suppressed CUBE technique. While significant image enhancement between the affected and unaffected sides was almost shown in all segments for the patients, different effects were found in mastoid and internal auditory canalicular regions,We thus can demonstrate the feasibility of 3D CUBE MRI in the diagnosis of patients with facial paralysis relevant diseases.  

Fei Xie, Haojiang Li, Lizhi Liu

To evaluate the prognostic value of detailed MRI reports for progress-free survivals (PFS) of patients with Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) who underwent intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT), we used Cox regression to analyze all the variables of detailed MRI reports and to build a new nomogram for PFS. Our results demonstrated that the new nomogram was more efficient than the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) 8th staging system. These results indicated that detailed MRI reports could play a more important role in predicting PFS, and some significant factors may be added to improve the current staging system.

Yasutaka Fushimi, Tomohisa Okada, Sonoko Oshima, Yusuke Yokota, Hikaru Fukutomi, Gosuke Okubo, Satoshi Nakajima, Akira Yamamoto, Wei Liu, Sinyeob Ahn, Thomas Beck, Kaori Togashi

A preliminary imaging study for MPRAGE with Wave-CAIPI has been introduced at the clinical MR scanner. MPRAGE with Wave-CAIPI 3×3 shows relatively better contrast despite its short scan time. Less imaging noise and segmentation error was found in MPRAGE with Wave-CAIPI 3×3. MPRAGE with GRAPPA 3×3 showed prominent imaging noise and segmentation errors, however, MPRAGE with CAIPI 3×3 showed few segmentation errors and almost equivalent to Wave-CAIPI 3×3.

Wenhan Yang, Ru Yang, Jing Luo, Lei He, Jun Liu, Jun Zhang

Sixty-eight patients with heroin use disorders(HUD) and forty-seven matched healthy controls underwent a high resolution T1 and whole-brain pulse arterial spin labeled (PASL) perfusion magnetic resonanceMRI scanning. We found that compared to control subjects, HUD showed worse neuropsychological performance and significantly decreased regional relative CBF ((rCBF)) in HUD patients had hypoperfusion in limbic, frontal, and temporol areas,and the correlation between middle frontal gyrus(MFG) and theneurocognitive measures.

Geraldine Tran, Maria Pamatmat, Craig Devincent, Gail Lee, Alastair Martin

Healthcare is a leading producer of carbon emissions with radiology as a key contributor. Our study describes the GE Premier's energy consumption. When operational for 10 hours in a 24 hour day, the GE Premier consumed 57.69 kwh, which is over double the energy consumption of the average household. Individual scans require 2.44-4.98 kwh; refrigerators use 1-2 kwh a day. Ready-to-scan and scanning modes require 4-10x the power of off mode. Optimizing the use of off mode will yield energy savings, and comparison to other models may guide environmentally conscious expansion of radiology services.

Stefano Mandija, Tim Schakel, Rob Tijssen

To create an innovative teaching method that engages students new to MR. The MR Escape room is a fun game that tests the (newly acquired) knowledge of students, while doubling as a team building exercise.

Alex Panther, Gilbert Thevathasen, Ian Connell, Yi Yao, Curtis Wiens, Andrew Curtis, Geron Bindseil, Chad Harris, Philip Beatty, Jeff Stainsby, Charles Cunningham, B Chronik, Cameron Piron

A dedicated head-specific MRI is presented.  The MRI is designed to address many of the siting and installation requirements to better allow the use of MRI in point-of-care imaging.

Naik Vietti Violi, Miriam Hulkower, Joseph Liao, Gabriela Hernandez-Meza, Katherine Smith, Xing Ching, Joseph Song, Eitan Novogrodsky, Daniela Said, Shingo Kihira, Mark Berger, Maxwell Segall, Keith Sigel, Mary Sun, Dillan Villavisanis, Claude Sirlin, Sara Lewis, Bachir Taouli

In this study, we compare the performance of different abbreviated MRI (AMRI) protocols using 3 different sets: noncontrast, dynamic T1WI, and hepatobiliary phase (HBP) post gadoxetic acid for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) screening in 238 patients at risk. Our results showed that performance of noncontrast AMRI was low, while AMRI using dynamic T1WI and AMRI including HBP showed equivalent sensitivity for HCC detection with slightly better specificity for dynamic T1W. These results need verification in a larger study.