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At least 1,279 records · Page 71Linked to original sources

Accurate quantification of right ventricular mass at MR imaging by using cine true fast imaging with steady-state precession: study in dogs.

PURPOSE: To assess the accuracy of cine magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with a segmented true fast imaging with steady-state precession (FISP) technique for right ventricular (RV) mass quantification. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fourteen dogs were imaged with a 1.5-T clinical MR imaging unit by using an electrocardiographically gated true FISP sequence. Contiguous segmented k-space cine images were acquired from the base of the RV to the apex during suspended respiration (repetition time msec/echo time msec, 3.2/1.6; section thickness, 5 mm; in-plane resolution, 1.0 x 1.3 mm2). After imaging, each dog was sacrificed, and the RV free wall was isolated and weighed. Each MR imaging data set was analyzed twice by each of two independent observers who were blinded to the results of RV mass measurement at autopsy, and the mass measurements at MR imaging were compared with the autopsy results by using linear regression and Bland-Altman analysis. RESULTS: RV mass measurements calculated by using the true FISP cine MR images were nearly identical to those at autopsy (R = 0.82, standard error of the estimate = 1.7 g, P >.05), with a mean difference between the autopsy and MR imaging measurements of 0.3 g +/- 1.7 (1.9% +/- 8.2) (P >.05). Inter- and intraobserver variations were small, with a mean interobserver variability of -0.1 g +/- 2.3 and a mean intraobserver variability of 0.2 g +/- 1.6 at every-section analysis. CONCLUSION: In this animal model, true FISP cine MR imaging enabled accurate quantification of RV mass.

Animals↗

Hippocampal volume is associated with physician-reported acute cognitive deficits after electroconvulsive therapy.

Predicting memory problems in older depressed patients receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is difficult. In this study, hippocampal volume and acute memory outcomes were examined in 15 patients following an index course of ECT. Smaller hippocampal volume was associated with poorer ECT-related memory outcomes. These results add to a growing literature on memory, ECT, and the hippocampus. Although the findings are significant, the sample size in the study is small, so future studies with more complex modeling of key variables that may influence memory are warranted.

Acute Disease↗

Simulation of non-contact measurement of the electrical impedance using an anatomical model.

The measurement of the impedance of biological tissue can be a non-invasive method to find new data of diagnostic relevance. A system for a non-contact measurement of the electrical impedance of biological tissue is presented. The system consists of an excitation coil and two sensing coils, an upper and a lower coil. If the two sensing coils are coupled it can be used as a gradiometer coil. Numerical experiments with focus on the eddy currents in the tissue and on the detection of the small changes of the signal are carried out to calculate the fields, eddy current distributions and induced voltages. Hereby tests with different frequencies of the excitation current and different conductivities of a tissue block are used. Then the homogeneous tissue block is replaced with a fraction of the arm of an anatomical model which contains different tissue classes.

Computer Simulation↗

Neural network simulation of visual inspection of graphs of single-subject interventions.

Judgments of the effectiveness of single-subject behavioral interventions are often based on visual examination of graphs of response data, but previous research indicates that such judgments are often unreliable and flawed. Here it is proposed that artificial neural networks could be developed to simulate the judgments of expert judges. A prototype of such a network was designed and trained in the present study, and its use in novel experiments matched the estimates of the expert whose judgments were simulated significantly better than did a prediction equation developed using a multiple regression approach.

Artificial Intelligence↗

Computerized audiometry--a facility to prevent hearing damages caused by noise.

A computerized audiometer has been developed to perform pure-tone manual or fixed-frequency Békésy audiometry. A number of statistical evaluation programs are part of the integrated audiometer. It means that even small but statistically certain changes in hearing thresholds can be revealed at an early stage.

Audiometry↗

A portable, low-resistance puff topography instrument for pulsating, high-flow smoking devices.

A smoking topography instrument appropriate for pulsating high flow rate smoking devices, such as the narghile water pipe, has been developed and tested. Instrument precision and repeatability was determined using a digitally controlled smoking machine, and the added draw resistance due to the topography instrument was measured over the range of expected puff flow rates. The maximum error in any topography variable was found to be less than 5%. The instrument was successfully demonstrated in a pilot field study of 30 volunteer narghile smokers. The pilot study yielded an average smoker puff volume, duration, and interpuff interval of 0.531, 2.47 sec, 16.28 sec, respectively.

Artifacts↗

Application of space technologies for valuation of a stress level.

The adaptation of large long-term experience of application Heat Rate Variability in space biology and medicine and medical researches is represented. The description of the new approaches is given which are fixed in a basis of diagnostic computer systems "NeuroResercher 5.0" (or System of Computer Vegetology "CardioTensionTest 5.0" as module in the frame of "NeuroResercher 5.0") and "Varicard". These systems for thorough clinical and experimental scientific investigations and experimental investigations (for specialists of R&D institutes, doctors of functional diagnosis rooms of hospitals possessing clinical bases of R&D institute and medical university chairs, during clinical and preclinical testing of drugs, medical and biological R&D institutes carrying out Nneurophysiological investigations in the field of labour medicine and sport medicine, development of infantile nervous system, medical education establishments.

Aerospace Medicine↗

Effects of zero-filled interpolation on cervical magnetic resonance angiographic measurement.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of zero-filled interpolation (ZIP) on measurements of the cervical arteries because its benefits on the accuracy and precision of measurements in medium-sized arteries remains unknown. METHODS: Three observers measured 36 computer-simulated vessels (2-6.8 mm) and 130 normal cervical vessels (assessed with two-dimensional time-of-flight MR angiography) from 512-, 256-, and 256-ZIP matrix source images. The accuracy and precision of measurement was assessed for each matrix by using the Student t test and F test of variance, respectively. The effect of vessel size and matrix placement on measurement error was determined by means of linear regression and the Student t test, respectively. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed between simulated measurements obtained on the 512 matrix and their true value. The 256 matrix caused overestimation of vessel diameter compared with 512 matrix (mean bias, 0.3 mm for computer-simulated vessels and 0.1 mm for normal vessels). This effect was reduced with ZIP, by a mean of 0.1 mm for both groups (P <.03). Precision was not affected by the matrix size or ZIP, and vessel size and matrix placement did not alter the measurement error. CONCLUSION: Vessel diameter is overestimated on 256-matrix MR angiographic source images. ZIP reduces this overestimation; however, the effect is small and unlikely to be clinically important.

Arteries↗

Image-based computational simulation of flow dynamics in a giant intracranial aneurysm.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Blood flow dynamics are thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis and treatment of intracranial aneurysms; however, hemodynamic quantities of interest are difficult to measure in vivo. This study shows that computational fluid dynamics (CFD) combined with computed rotational angiography can provide such hemodynamic information in a patient-specific and prospective manner. METHODS: A 58-year-old woman presented with partial right IIIrd cranial nerve palsy due to a giant carotid-posterior communicating artery aneurysm that was subsequently coiled. Computed rotational angiography provided high resolution volumetric image data from which the lumen geometry was extracted. This and a representative flow rate waveform were provided as boundary conditions for finite element CFD simulation of the 3D pulsatile velocity field. RESULTS: CFD analysis revealed high speed flow entering the aneurysm at the proximal and distal ends of the neck, promoting the formation of both persistent and transient vortices within the aneurysm sac. This produced dynamic patterns of elevated and oscillatory wall shear stresses distal to the neck and along the sidewalls of the aneurysm. These hemodynamic features were consistent with patterns of contrast agent wash-in during cine angiography and with the configuration of coil compaction observed at 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: Anatomic realism of lumen geometry and flow pulsatility is essential for elucidating the patient-specific nature of aneurysm hemodynamics. Such image-based CFD analysis may be used to provide key hemodynamic information for prospective studies of aneurysm growth and rupture or to predict the response of an individual aneurysm to therapeutic options.

Blood Flow Velocity↗

The position of the aorta relative to the spine: a comparison of patients with and without idiopathic scoliosis.

BACKGROUND: There is little information documenting the relationship of the aorta to the thoracic scoliotic spine. Recent studies have suggested that the ends of screws placed during an anterior spinal arthrodesis, and pedicle screws used for the treatment of right thoracic scoliosis, may be in proximity to the aorta. The purpose of this study was to analyze the anatomical relationship between the aorta and the spine in a comparison of patients with idiopathic right thoracic scoliosis and patients with a normal spine. METHODS: Thirty-six patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis with a right thoracic curve and forty-three with a normal straight spine were studied. Radiographs were analyzed to determine the Cobb angle, the apex of the curve, and the apical vertebral rotation for the patients with scoliosis. Axial magnetic resonance images from the fourth thoracic vertebra to the third lumbar vertebra at the midvertebral body level were used to measure the distance from the aorta to the closest point of the vertebral body cortex, the distance from the posterior edge of the aorta to the spinal canal, and the aorta-vertebral angle. RESULTS: No differences were found between the groups with respect to age or sex distribution. For the scoliosis and normal groups, boys had greater average vertebral body width and depth for all levels than did girls (p < 0.05). For the scoliosis group, the most common apical vertebra was the eighth thoracic vertebra, the average coronal curve measurement was 55.2 degrees, and the average apical rotation was 17.3 degrees. The average distance from the aortic wall to the vertebral body cortex at the apex of the curve was greater in the patients with scoliosis (4.0 mm) than at similar levels in the normal group (2.5 mm) (p < 0.05). The distance from the posterior aspect of the aorta to the anterior aspect of the spinal canal was less in the scoliosis group (11.1 mm) than in the normal group (19.2 mm) for the fifth to the twelfth thoracic level (p < 0.05). The aorta was positioned more laterally and posteriorly adjacent to the vertebral body at the fifth to the twelfth thoracic level in patients with scoliosis compared with that in normal patients as reflected in a smaller aorta-vertebral angle (p < 0.05). With an increasing coronal Cobb angle in the thoracic curve and apical vertebral rotation, the aorta was positioned more laterally and posteriorly (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: In patients with right thoracic idiopathic scoliosis, the aorta is positioned more laterally and posteriorly relative to the vertebral body compared with that in patients without spinal deformity.

Adolescent↗

A technique for improved quantitative characterization of intracranial aneurysms.

3D digital subtraction angiograms of two intracranial aneurysms were imported to a workstation for reconstruction and postprocessing into a format allowing delineation of 1) the extent to which the diameter of the parent artery is incorporated into the aneurysm ostium (percentage of parent artery involvement or neck angle) and 2) the aneurysm volume and surface area. For clear visualization, 3D surface-rendered objects of the reconstructed artery, neck angle, and aneurysm were created.

Angiography, Digital Subtraction↗

3D reconstruction and analysis of the whole trunk surface for non-invasive follow-up of scoliotic deformities.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the 3D reconstruction accuracy of a new technology that allows the acquisition of the whole trunk and to develop a software to analyse the trunk surface asymmetry. A non-invasive active vision system provides a 3D textured reconstruction of the whole trunk. The analysis system provides the clinician with quantitative indices that characterize the whole external trunk asymmetry.

Artificial Intelligence↗

An augmented reality system for ultrasound guided needle biopsies.

We have developed an augmented reality visualization system that helps the physician perform ultrasound guided needle biopsies. For a needle biopsy, the needle has to be inserted into an anatomical target to remove a tissue sample. Ultrasound guidance is routinely used e.g. for breast needle biopsies. The real-time ultrasound images allow the physician to locate the target and to monitor the needle position. Our system uses a combination of an optical laser guide and a virtual guide in the augmented image to provide intuitive guidance for the needle placement. There is no need to track the needle, i.e. there is no need to instrument the needle for tracking. In phantom tests, users have performed well with the system without prior training. This paper describes special features of our system and the workflow for the needle placement procedure.

Biopsy, Needle↗

Multiparametric iterative self-organizing MR imaging data analysis technique for assessment of tissue viability in acute cerebral ischemia.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Defining viability and the potential for recovery of ischemic brain tissue can be very valuable for patient selection for acute stroke therapies. Multiparametric MR imaging analysis of ischemic lesions indicates that the ischemic lesion is inhomogeneous in degree of ischemic injury and recovery potential. We sought to define MR imaging characteristics of ischemic lesions that are compatible with viable tissue. METHODS: We included patients with supratentorial ischemic stroke who underwent multiparametric MR imaging studies (axial multi-spin-echo T2-weighted imaging, T1-weighted imaging, and diffusion-weighted imaging) at the acute (< 24 hours) and outcome (3 months) phases of stroke. Using the algorithm Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis Technique (ISODATA), the lesion was segmented into clusters and each was assigned a number, called the tissue signature (white matter = 1, CSF = 12, all others between these two). Recovery was defined as at least a 20% size reduction from the acute phase ISODATA lesion volume to the outcome phase T2-weighted imaging lesion volume. The tissue signature data were collapsed into the following categories: < or = 3, 4, 5, and > or = 6. Logistic regression analysis included the following parameters: lesion volume, tissue signature value, apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) value, relative ADC (rADC) expressed as a ratio, T2 value, and T2 ratio. The model with the largest goodness of fit value was selected. RESULTS: We included 48 patients (female-male ratio, 26:22; age, 64 [+/-14] years; 15 treated with recombinant tissue plasminogen activator [rt-PA] within 3 hours of onset; median National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score, 7 [range, 2-26]). Median symptom onset-to-MR imaging time interval was 9.5 hours. With ISODATA processing, we generated 200 region-of-interest tissue records (one to nine tissue records per patient). Regarding tissue recovery, we detected a three-way interaction among ADC, ISODATA tissue signature, and previous treatment with rt-PA (P = .003). In the group not treated with rt-PA, ischemic tissues with acute rADC greater than the median (0.79) and tissue signature < or = 4 were more likely to recover (80% vs. 31% and 13%, odds ratio [95% CI]: 0.12 [0.05, 0.30] and 0.04 [0.01, 0.18] for tissue signatures 5 and 6, respectively). CONCLUSION: ISODATA multiparametric MR imaging of acute stroke clearly shows inhomogeneity and different viability of the ischemic lesion. Ischemic tissues with lower acute phase ISODATA tissue signature values (< or = 4) and higher rADC values (> or = 0.79) are much more likely to recover than those with higher signature values or lower rADC values. The effect of these factors on tissue recovery, however, is dependent on whether preceding treatment with rt-PA had been performed. Our approach can be a valuable tool in the design of therapeutic stroke trials with an extended time window.

Acute Disease↗