Search

The stomach's ability to store, mix, propel, and empty its content requires highly coordinated motor functions. However, current diagnostic tools cannot simultaneously assess these motor processes. This study aimed to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to map multifaceted gastric motor functions, including accommodation, tonic and peristaltic contractions, and emptying, through a single noninvasive experiment for both humans and rats. Ten humans and 10 Sprague-Dawley rats consumed MRI-visible semisolid meals and underwent MRI scans. We used a surface model to analyze MRI data, capturing the deformation of the stomach wall on ingestion or during digestion. We inferred muscle activity, mapped motor processes, parcellated the stomach into functional regions, and revealed cross-species distinctions. In humans, both the fundus and antrum distended postmeal, followed by sustained tonic contractions to regulate intragastric pressure. Peristaltic contractions initiated from the distal fundus, including three concurrent wavefronts oscillating at 3.3 cycles/min and traveling at 1.7 to 2.9 mm/s. These motor functions facilitated linear gastric emptying with a 61-min half-time. In contrast, rats exhibited peristalsis from the midcorpus, showing two wavefronts oscillating at 5.0 cycles/min and traveling at 0.4 to 0.9 mm/s. For both species, motility features allowed functional parcellation of the stomach along a midcorpus division. This study maps region- and species-specific gastric motor functions. We demonstrate the value of MRI with surface modeling in understanding gastric physiology and its potential to become a new standard for clinical and preclinical investigations of gastric disorders at both individual and group levels. NEW & NOTEWORTHY A novel MRI technique can visualize how the stomach accommodates, mixes, and propels food for digestion in humans and animals alike. Digital models of gastric MRI reveal the functional maps, organization, and distinction of the stomach across individuals and species. This technique holds the unique potential to advance basic and clinical studies of functional gastric disorders.

Oscillating Steady-State Imaging (OSSI) is a recently developed fMRI acquisition method that can provide 2 to 3 times higher SNR than standard fMRI approaches. However, because the OSSI signal exhibits a nonlinear oscillation pattern, one must acquire and combine n c (e.g., 10) OSSI images to get an image that is free of oscillation for fMRI, and fully sampled acquisitions would compromise temporal resolution. To improve temporal resolution and accurately model the nonlinearity of OSSI signals, instead of using subspace models that are not well suited for the data, we build the MR physics for OSSI signal generation as a regularizer for the undersampled reconstruction. Our proposed physics-based manifold model turns the disadvantages of OSSI acquisition into advantages and enables joint reconstruction and quantification. OSSI manifold model (OSSIMM) outperforms subspace models and reconstructs high-resolution fMRI images with a factor of 12 acceleration and without spatial or temporal smoothing. Furthermore, OSSIMM can dynamically quantify important physics parameters, including R 2 ∗ maps, with a temporal resolution of 150 ms.

Purpose: Optimizing three-dimensional (3D) k-space sampling trajectories is important for efficient MRI yet presents a challenging computational problem. This work proposes a generalized framework for optimizing 3D non-Cartesian sampling patterns via data-driven optimization., Methods: We built a differentiable simulation model to enable gradient-based methods for sampling trajectory optimization. The algorithm can simultaneously optimize multiple properties of sampling patterns, including image quality, hardware constraints (maximum slew rate and gradient strength), reduced peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS), and parameter-weighted contrast. The proposed method can either optimize the gradient waveform (spline-based freeform optimization) or optimize properties of given sampling trajectories (such as the rotation angle of radial trajectories). Notably, the method can optimize sampling trajectories synergistically with either model-based or learning-based reconstruction methods. We proposed several strategies to alleviate the severe nonconvexity and huge computation demand posed by the large scale. The corresponding code is available as an open-source toolbox., Results: We applied the optimized trajectory to multiple applications including structural and functional imaging. In the simulation studies, the image quality of a 3D kooshball trajectory was improved from 0.29 to 0.22 (NRMSE) with Stochastic optimization framework for 3D NOn-Cartesian samPling trajectorY (SNOPY) optimization. In the prospective studies, by optimizing the rotation angles of a stack-of-stars (SOS) trajectory, SNOPY reduced the NRMSE of reconstructed images from 1.19 to 0.97 compared to the best empirical method (RSOS-GR). Optimizing the gradient waveform of a rotational EPI trajectory improved participants' rating of the PNS from "strong" to "mild.", Conclusion: SNOPY provides an efficient data-driven and optimization-based method to tailor non-Cartesian sampling trajectories., (© 2023 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), inhomogeneity in the main magnetic field used for imaging, referred to as off-resonance, can lead to image artifacts ranging from mild to severe depending on the application. Off-resonance artifacts, such as signal loss, geometric distortions, and blurring, can compromise the clinical and scientific utility of MR images. In this review, we describe sources of off-resonance in MRI, how off-resonance affects images, and strategies to prevent and correct for off-resonance. Given recent advances and the great potential of low-field and/or portable MRI, we also highlight the advantages and challenges of imaging at low field with respect to off-resonance., (© 2022 The Authors. NMR in Biomedicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Optimizing k-space sampling trajectories is a promising yet challenging topic for fast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This work proposes to optimize a reconstruction method and sampling trajectories jointly concerning image reconstruction quality in a supervised learning manner. We parameterize trajectories with quadratic B-spline kernels to reduce the number of parameters and apply multi-scale optimization, which may help to avoid sub-optimal local minima. The algorithm includes an efficient non-Cartesian unrolled neural network-based reconstruction and an accurate approximation for backpropagation through the non-uniform fast Fourier transform (NUFFT) operator to accurately reconstruct and back-propagate multi-coil non-Cartesian data. Penalties on slew rate and gradient amplitude enforce hardware constraints. Sampling and reconstruction are trained jointly using large public datasets. To correct for possible eddy-current effects introduced by the curved trajectory, we use a pencil-beam trajectory mapping technique. In both simulations and in- vivo experiments, the learned trajectory demonstrates significantly improved image quality compared to previous model-based and learning-based trajectory optimization methods for 10× acceleration factors. Though trained with neural network-based reconstruction, the proposed trajectory also leads to improved image quality with compressed sensing-based reconstruction.

Histotripsy has been previously applied to target various cranial locations in vitro through an excised human skull. Recently, a transcranial magnetic resonance (MR)-guided histotripsy (tcMRgHt) system was developed, enabling pre-clinical investigations of tcMRgHt for brain surgery. To determine the feasibility of in vivo transcranial histotripsy, tcMRgHt treatment was delivered to eight pigs using a 700-kHz, 128-element, MR-compatible phased-array transducer inside a 3-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. After craniotomy to open an acoustic window to the brain, histotripsy was applied through an excised human calvarium to target the inside of the pig brain based on pre-treatment MRI and fiducial markers. MR images were acquired pre-treatment, immediately post-treatment and 2-4 h post-treatment to evaluate the acute treatment outcome. Successful histotripsy ablation was observed in all pigs. The MR-evident lesions were well confined within the targeted volume, without evidence of excessive brain edema or hemorrhage outside of the target zone. Histology revealed tissue homogenization in the ablation zones with a sharp demarcation between destroyed and unaffected tissue, which correlated well with the radiographic treatment zones on MRI. These results are the first to support the in vivo feasibility of tcMRgHt in the pig brain, enabling further investigation of the use of tcMRgHt for brain surgery., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest disclosure Z.X. and T.H. have financial and/or other relationships with HistoSonics Inc. The University of Michigan has a financial interest in Histosonics Inc., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

This paper proposes a new method for joint design of radiofrequency (RF) and gradient waveforms in Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and applies it to the design of 3D spatially tailored saturation and inversion pulses. The joint design of both waveforms is characterized by the ODE Bloch equations, to which there is no known direct solution. Existing approaches therefore typically rely on simplified problem formulations based on, e.g., the small-tip approximation or constraining the gradient waveforms to particular shapes, and often apply only to specific objective functions for a narrow set of design goals (e.g., ignoring hardware constraints). This paper develops and exploits an auto-differentiable Bloch simulator to directly compute Jacobians of the (Bloch-simulated) excitation pattern with respect to RF and gradient waveforms. This approach is compatible with arbitrary sub-differentiable loss functions, and optimizes the RF and gradients directly without restricting the waveform shapes. For computational efficiency, we derive and implement explicit Bloch simulator Jacobians (approximately halving computation time and memory usage). To enforce hardware limits (peak RF, gradient, and slew rate), we use a change of variables that makes the 3D pulse design problem effectively unconstrained; we then optimize the resulting problem directly using the proposed auto-differentiation framework. We demonstrate our approach with two kinds of 3D excitation pulses that cannot be easily designed with conventional approaches: Outer-volume saturation (90° flip angle), and inner-volume inversion.

Histotripsy has been previously shown to treat a wide range of locations through excised human skulls in vitro. In this article, a transcranial magnetic resonance (MR)-guided histotripsy (tcMRgHt) system was developed, characterized, and tested in the in vivo pig brain through an excised human skull. A 700-kHz, 128-element MR-compatible phased-array ultrasound transducer with a focal depth of 15 cm was designed and fabricated in-house. Support structures were also constructed to facilitate transcranial treatment. The tcMRgHt array was acoustically characterized with a peak negative pressure up to 137 MPa in free field, 72 MPa through an excised human skull with aberration correction, and 48.4 MPa without aberration correction. The electronic focal steering range through the skull was 33.5 mm laterally and 50 mm axially, where a peak negative pressure above the 26-MPa cavitation intrinsic threshold can be achieved. The MR compatibility of the tcMRgHt system was assessed quantitatively using SNR, B0 field map, and B1 field map in a clinical 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. Transcranial treatment using electronic focal steering was validated in red blood cell phantoms and in vivo pig brain through an excised human skull. In two pigs, targeted cerebral tissue was successfully treated through the human skull as confirmed by MRI. Excessive bleeding or edema was not observed in the peri-target zones by the time of pig euthanasia. These results demonstrated the feasibility of using this preclinical tcMRgHt system for in vivo transcranial treatment in a swine model.

The semi-adiabatic localization by adiabatic selective refocusing (sLASER) sequence provides single-shot full intensity signal with clean localization and minimal chemical shift displacement error and was recommended by the international MRS Consensus Group as the preferred localization sequence at high- and ultra-high fields. Across-vendor standardization of the sLASER sequence at 3 tesla has been challenging due to the B 1 requirements of the adiabatic inversion pulses and maximum B 1 limitations on some platforms. The aims of this study were to design a short-echo sLASER sequence that can be executed within a B 1 limit of 15 μT by taking advantage of gradient-modulated RF pulses, to implement it on three major platforms and to evaluate the between-vendor reproducibility of its perfomance with phantoms and in vivo. In addition, voxel-based first and second order B 0 shimming and voxel-based B 1 adjustments of RF pulses were implemented on all platforms. Amongst the gradient-modulated pulses considered (GOIA, FOCI and BASSI), GOIA-WURST was identified as the optimal refocusing pulse that provides good voxel selection within a maximum B 1 of 15 μT based on localization efficiency, contamination error and ripple artifacts of the inversion profile. An sLASER sequence (30 ms echo time) that incorporates VAPOR water suppression and 3D outer volume suppression was implemented with identical parameters (RF pulse type and duration, spoiler gradients and inter-pulse delays) on GE, Philips and Siemens and generated identical spectra on the GE 'Braino' phantom between vendors. High-quality spectra were consistently obtained in multiple regions (cerebellar white matter, hippocampus, pons, posterior cingulate cortex and putamen) in the human brain across vendors (5 subjects scanned per vendor per region; mean signal-to-noise ratio > 33; mean water linewidth between 6.5 Hz to 11.4 Hz). The harmonized sLASER protocol is expected to produce high reproducibility of MRS across sites thereby allowing large multi-site studies with clinical cohorts., (© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Purpose: Oscillating steady-state imaging (OSSI) is an SNR-efficient steady-state sequence with T 2 ∗ sensitivity suitable for FMRI. Due to the frequency sensitivity of the signal, respiration- and drift-induced field changes can create unwanted signal fluctuations. This study aims to address this issue by developing retrospective signal correction methods that utilize OSSI signal properties to denoise task-based OSSI FMRI experiments., Methods: A retrospective denoising approach was developed that leverages the unique signal properties of OSSI to perform denoising without a manually specified noise region of interest and works with both voxel timecourses (oscillating steady-state correction [OSSCOR]) or FID timecourses (F-OSSCOR). Simulations were performed to estimate the number of principal components optimal for denoising. In vivo experiments at 3 T field strength were conducted to compare the performance of proposed methods against a standard principal component analysis-based method, measured using mean t score within an region of interest, number of activations, and mean temporal SNR., Results: Correction using OSSCOR was significantly better than the standard method in all metrics. Correction using F-OSSCOR was not significantly different from the standard method using an equal number of principal components. Increasing the number of OSSCOR principal components decreased activation strength and increased the number of suspected false positives. However, increasing the number of principal components in F-OSSCOR increased activation strength with little to no increase in false activation., Conclusion: Both OSSCOR and F-OSSCOR substantially reduce physiological noise components and increase temporal SNR, improving the functional results of task-based OSSI functional experiments. F-OSSCOR demonstrates a proof of concept utilization of coil-localized FID signal information for physiological noise correction., (© 2020 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

The goals of fMRI acquisition include high spatial and temporal resolutions with a high signal to noise ratio (SNR). Oscillating Steady-State Imaging (OSSI) is a new fMRI acquisition method that provides large oscillating signals with the potential for high SNR, but does so at the expense of spatial and temporal resolutions. The unique oscillation pattern of OSSI images makes it well suited for high-dimensional modeling. We propose a patch-tensor low-rank model to exploit the local spatial-temporal low-rankness of OSSI images. We also develop a practical sparse sampling scheme with improved sampling incoherence for OSSI. With an alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) based algorithm, we improve OSSI spatial and temporal resolutions with a factor of 12 acquisition acceleration and 1.3 mm isotropic spatial resolution in prospectively undersampled experiments. The proposed model yields high temporal SNR with more activation than other low-rank methods. Compared to the standard grad- ient echo (GRE) imaging with the same spatial-temporal resolution, 3D OSSI tensor model reconstruction demonstrates 2 times higher temporal SNR with 2 times more functional activation.

Purpose: Signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is crucial for high-resolution fMRI; however, current methods for SNR improvement are limited. A new approach, called oscillating steady-state imaging (OSSI), produces a signal that is large and T 2 ∗ -weighted, and is demonstrated to produce improved SNR compared to gradient echo (GRE) imaging with matched effective TE and spatial-temporal acquisition characteristics for high-resolution fMRI., Methods: Quadratic phase sequences were combined with balanced gradients to produce a large, oscillating steady-state signal. The quadratic phase progression was periodic over short intervals such as 10 TRs, inducing a frequency-dependent phase dispersal. Images over one period were combined to produce a single image with effectively T 2 ∗ -weighting. The OSSI parameters were explored through simulation and phantom data, and 2D and 3D human fMRI data were collected using OSSI and GRE imaging., Results: Phantom and human OSSI data showed highly reproducible signal oscillations with greater signal strength than GRE. Compared to single slice GRE with matched effective TE and spatial-temporal resolution, OSSI yielded more activation in the visual cortex by a factor of 1.84 and an improvement in temporal SNR by a factor of 1.83. Voxelwise percentage change comparisons between OSSI and GRE demonstrate a similar T 2 ∗ -weighted contrast mechanism with additional T 2 ' -weighting of about 15 ms immediately after the RF pulse., Conclusions: OSSI is a new acquisition method that exploits a large, oscillating signal that is T 2 ∗ -weighted and suitable for fMRI. The steady-state signal from balanced gradients creates higher signal strength than single slice GRE at varying TEs, enabling greater volumes of functional activity and higher SNR for high-resolution fMRI., (© 2020 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Purpose: GRAPPA is a popular reconstruction method for Cartesian parallel imaging, but is not easily extended to non-Cartesian sampling. We introduce a general and practical GRAPPA algorithm for arbitrary non-Cartesian imaging., Methods: We formulate a general GRAPPA reconstruction by associating a unique kernel with each unsampled k-space location with a distinct constellation, that is, local sampling pattern. We calibrate these generalized kernels using the Fourier transform phase shift property applied to fully gridded or separately acquired Cartesian Autocalibration signal (ACS) data. To handle the resulting large number of different kernels, we introduce a fast calibration algorithm based on nonuniform FFT (NUFFT) and adoption of circulant ACS boundary conditions. We applied our method to retrospectively under-sampled rotated stack-of-stars/spirals in vivo datasets, and to a prospectively under-sampled rotated stack-of-spirals functional MRI acquisition with a finger-tapping task., Results: We reconstructed all datasets without performing any trajectory-specific manual adaptation of the method. For the retrospectively under-sampled experiments, our method achieved image quality (i.e., error and g-factor maps) comparable to conjugate gradient SENSE (cg-SENSE) and SPIRiT. Functional activation maps obtained from our method were in good agreement with those obtained using cg-SENSE, but required a shorter total reconstruction time (for the whole time-series): 3 minutes (proposed) vs 15 minutes (cg-SENSE)., Conclusions: This paper introduces a general 3D non-Cartesian GRAPPA that is fast enough for practical use on today's computers. It is a direct generalization of original GRAPPA to non-Cartesian scenarios. The method should be particularly useful in dynamic imaging where a large number of frames are reconstructed from a single set of ACS data., (© 2019 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Purpose: This work aims to investigate the utility of velocity selective inversion pulses for perfusion weighted functional MRI., Methods: Tracer kinetic properties of velocity selective inversion (VSI) pulses as an input function for an arterial spin labeling (ASL) experiment were characterized in a group of healthy participants. Numerical simulations were conducted to search for a robust set of timing parameters for FMRI time series acquisition with maximal signal to noise ratio efficiency. The performance of three VSI pulse sequences with different timing parameters was compared with a pseudocontinuous ASL sequence in a simple FMRI experiment conducted on healthy participants., Results: The fit to the tracer kinetic model yielded arterial CBV of 1.24% ± 0.52% and 0.45 ± 0.11% and perfusion rates of 60.8 ± 32.3 and 34.4 ± 5.4 mL/min/100 g for gray and white matter, respectively. Bolus arrival times were estimated as 75.7 ± 21 ms and 349 ± 78 ms for gray and white matter, respectively. The FMRI experiments showed that VSI pulses yield comparable sensitivity to PCASL with similar timing parameters (TR = 4 s). However, VSI pulses could be used at a faster acquisition speed (TR = 3 s) and were more sensitive to neuronal activity than PCASL pulses, as evidenced by the 31% higher Z scores obtained on average in the active regions., Conclusion: VSI pulses can be very beneficial for perfusion weighted functional MRI because of their tracer kinetic characteristics, which allow a faster acquisition rate while maintaining an efficient labeling input function., (© 2018 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Purpose: To introduce a framework for rapid prototyping of MR pulse sequences., Methods: We propose a simple file format, called "TOPPE", for specifying all details of an MR imaging experiment, such as gradient and radiofrequency waveforms and the complete scan loop. In addition, we provide a TOPPE file "interpreter" for GE scanners, which is a binary executable that loads TOPPE files and executes the sequence on the scanner. We also provide MATLAB scripts for reading and writing TOPPE files and previewing the sequence prior to hardware execution. With this setup, the task of the pulse sequence programmer is reduced to creating TOPPE files, eliminating the need for hardware-specific programming. No sequence-specific compilation is necessary; the interpreter only needs to be compiled once (for every scanner software upgrade). We demonstrate TOPPE in three different applications: k-space mapping, non-Cartesian PRESTO whole-brain dynamic imaging, and myelin mapping in the brain using inhomogeneous magnetization transfer., Results: We successfully implemented and executed the three example sequences. By simply changing the various TOPPE sequence files, a single binary executable (interpreter) was used to execute several different sequences., Conclusion: The TOPPE file format is a complete specification of an MR imaging experiment, based on arbitrary sequences of a (typically small) number of unique modules. Along with the GE interpreter, TOPPE comprises a modular and flexible platform for rapid prototyping of new pulse sequences. Magn Reson Med 79:3128-3134, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine., (© 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Purpose: Spectrally selective "prewinding" radiofrequency pulses can counteract B0 inhomogeneity in steady-state sequences, but can only prephase a limited range of off-resonance. We propose spectral-spatial small-tip angle prewinding pulses that increase the off-resonance bandwidth that can be successfully prephased by incorporating spatially tailored excitation patterns., Theory and Methods: We present a feasibility study to compare spectral and spectral-spatial prewinding pulses. These pulses add a prephasing term to the target magnetization pattern that aims to recover an assigned off-resonance bandwidth at the echo time. For spectral-spatial pulses, the design bandwidth is centered at the off-resonance frequency for each spatial location in a field map. We use these pulses in the small-tip fast recovery steady-state sequence, which is similar to balanced steady-state free precession. We investigate improvement of spectral-spatial pulses over spectral pulses using simulations and small-tip fast recovery scans of a gel phantom and human brain., Results: In simulation, spectral-spatial pulses yielded lower normalized root mean squared excitation error than spectral pulses. For both experiments, the spectral-spatial pulse images are also qualitatively better (more uniform, less signal loss) than the spectral pulse images., Conclusion: Spectral-spatial prewinding pulses can prephase over a larger range of off-resonance than their purely spectral counterparts. Magn Reson Med 79:1377-1386, 2018. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine., (© 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Penalized least-squares iterative image reconstruction algorithms used for spatial resolution-limited imaging, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), commonly use a quadratic roughness penalty to regularize the reconstructed images. When used for complex-valued images, the conventional roughness penalty regularizes the real and imaginary parts equally. However, these imaging methods sometimes benefit from separate penalties for each part. The spatial smoothness from the roughness penalty on the reconstructed image is dictated by the regularization parameter(s). One method to set the parameter to a desired smoothness level is to evaluate the full width at half maximum of the reconstruction method's local impulse response. Previous work has shown that when using the conventional quadratic roughness penalty, one can approximate the local impulse response using an FFT-based calculation. However, that acceleration method cannot be applied directly for separate real and imaginary regularization. This paper proposes a fast and stable calculation for this case that also uses FFT-based calculations to approximate the local impulse responses of the real and imaginary parts. This approach is demonstrated with a quadratic image reconstruction of fMRI data that uses separate roughness penalties for the real and imaginary parts.

Purpose: To develop a novel regularized, model-based approach to phase-based conductivity mapping that uses structural information to improve the accuracy of conductivity maps., Theory and Methods: The inverse of the three-dimensional Laplacian operator is used to model the relationship between measured phase maps and the object conductivity in a penalized weighted least-squares optimization problem. Spatial masks based on structural information are incorporated into the problem to preserve data near boundaries. The proposed Inverse Laplacian method was compared against a restricted Gaussian filter in simulation, phantom, and human experiments., Results: The Inverse Laplacian method resulted in lower reconstruction bias and error due to noise in simulations than the Gaussian filter. The Inverse Laplacian method also produced conductivity maps closer to the measured values in a phantom and with reduced noise in the human brain, as compared to the Gaussian filter., Conclusion: The Inverse Laplacian method calculates conductivity maps with less noise and more accurate values near boundaries. Improving the accuracy of conductivity maps is integral for advancing the applications of conductivity mapping. Magn Reson Med 78:2011-2021, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine., (© 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

One of the key elements in dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) image analysis is the arterial input function (AIF). Traditionally, in DCE studies a global AIF sampled from a major artery or vein is used to estimate the vascular permeability parameters; however, not addressing dispersion and delay of the AIF at the tissue level can lead to biased estimates of these parameters. To find less biased estimates of vascular permeability parameters, a vascular model of the cerebral vascular system is proposed that considers effects of dispersion of the AIF in the vessel branches, as well as extravasation of the contrast agent (CA) to the extravascular-extracellular space. Profiles of the CA concentration were simulated for different branching levels of the vascular structure, combined with the effects of vascular leakage. To estimate the permeability parameters, the extended model was applied to these simulated signals and also to DCE-T1 (dynamic contrast enhanced T 1 ) images of patients with glioblastoma multiforme tumors. The simulation study showed that, compared with the case of solving the pharmacokinetic equation with a global AIF, using the local AIF that is corrected by the vascular model can give less biased estimates of the permeability parameters (K trans , v p and K b ). Applying the extended model to signals sampled from different areas of the DCE-T1 image showed that it is able to explain the CA concentration profile in both the normal areas and the tumor area, where effects of vascular leakage exist. Differences in the values of the permeability parameters estimated in these images using the local and global AIFs followed the same trend as the simulation study. These results demonstrate that the vascular model can be a useful tool for obtaining more accurate estimation of parameters in DCE studies., (Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Purpose: Simultaneous multislice (SMS) imaging is a useful way to accelerate functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). As acceleration becomes more aggressive, an increasingly larger number of receive coils are required to separate the slices, which significantly increases the computational burden. We propose a coil compression method that works with concentric ring non-Cartesian SMS imaging and should work with Cartesian SMS as well. We evaluate the method on fMRI scans of several subjects and compare it to standard coil compression methods., Methods: The proposed method uses a slice-separation k-space kernel to simultaneously compress coil data into a set of virtual coils. Five subjects were scanned using both non-SMS fMRI and SMS fMRI with three simultaneous slices. The SMS fMRI scans were processed using the proposed method, along with other conventional methods. Code is available at https://github.com/alcu/sms., Results: The proposed method maintained functional activation with a fewer number of virtual coils than standard SMS coil compression methods. Compression of non-SMS fMRI maintained activation with a slightly lower number of virtual coils than the proposed method, but does not have the acceleration advantages of SMS fMRI., Conclusion: The proposed method is a practical way to compress and reconstruct concentric ring SMS data and improves the preservation of functional activation over standard coil compression methods in fMRI. Magn Reson Med 76:1196-1209, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Purpose: Develop a method for rapid three-dimensional inner-volume (IV), or reduced field-of-view, steady-state imaging., Methods: Tailored radiofrequency pulses for exciting a three-dimensional IV were designed using a recently proposed algorithm and used in three different sequences: spoiled gradient echo, balanced steady-state free precession, and "small-tip fast recovery" (STFR) which uses a "tip-up" RF pulse after the readout to fast recover spins to the longitudinal axis. The inner- and outer-volume (OV) steady-state signals were analyzed. To demonstrate the potential utility of the proposed method, segmented stack-of-spirals reduced field-of-view images in a volunteer were acquired., Results: For a given three-dimensional IV excitation pulse, STFR can achieve higher IV/OV signal ratio compared with spoiled gradient echo and balanced steady-state free precession. For spoiled gradient echo and balanced steady-state free precession, this ratio is significantly lower than that produced by a single IV excitation. For STFR, this ratio exceeds that produced by a single IV excitation, due to partial OV saturation produced by the nonspatially selective tip-up pulse. Reduced FOV STFR stack-of-spirals imaging with 2-fold under-sampling in both x-y and z is demonstrated., Conclusion: STFR provides an effective mechanism for OV suppression in steady-state IV imaging. The recently proposed joint pulse design method can be used in the STFR sequence to achieve fast reduced field-of-view imaging. Magn Reson Med 76:1217-1223, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Purpose: Radiofrequency-spoiled steady-state sequences offer rapid data acquisition with T1- or T2*-weighting. The spoiler gradients in these sequences must be large enough to suppress ghost artifacts, and are chosen empirically. However, certain factors such as the need to minimize gradient first moments or acoustic noise can limit the spoiler size and, hence, the ability to suppress ghosts. We present an acquisition and preprocessing strategy for improved spoiling efficiency in conventional and echo-shifted dynamic radiofrequency-spoiled 3D imaging., Theory and Methods: By requiring each time-frame in a dynamic imaging sequence to contain a particular (restricted) number of total radiofrequency shots, the ghost signal can be made to alternate in sign every other frame. The ghost is then suppressed by Fourier transforming along the temporal dimension, and removing the Nyquist frequency in preprocessing (similar to UNFOLD). The method works for both Cartesian and non-Cartesian imaging., Results: We demonstrate improved ghost suppression with the proposed approach, for both conventional and echo-shifted spoiled gradient echo imaging in stationary phantoms and in vivo. Cartesian echo-shifted spoiled gradient echo imaging produces two ghosts shifted in opposite directions, both of which are suppressed with our method., Conclusion: For a given spoiler gradient area, the proposed approach substantially suppresses the ghost signal in both conventional and echo-shifted dynamic radiofrequency-spoiled imaging. Magn Reson Med 75:2388-2393, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

We propose a new method for the joint design of k-space trajectory and RF pulse in 3D small-tip tailored excitation. Designing time-varying RF and gradient waveforms for a desired 3D target excitation pattern in MRI poses a non-linear, non-convex, constrained optimization problem with relatively large problem size that is difficult to solve directly. Existing joint pulse design approaches are therefore typically restricted to predefined trajectory types such as EPI or stack-of-spirals that intrinsically satisfy the gradient maximum and slew rate constraints and reduce the problem size (dimensionality) dramatically, but lead to suboptimal excitation accuracy for a given pulse duration. Here we use a 2nd-order B-spline basis that can be fitted to an arbitrary k-space trajectory, and allows the gradient constraints to be implemented efficiently. We show that this allows the joint optimization problem to be solved with quite general k-space trajectories. Starting from an arbitrary initial trajectory, we first approximate the trajectory using B-spline basis, and then optimize the corresponding coefficients. We evaluate our method in simulation using four different k-space initializations: stack-of-spirals, SPINS, KT-points, and a new method based on KT-points. In all cases, our approach leads to substantial improvement in excitation accuracy for a given pulse duration. We also validated our method for inner-volume excitation using phantom experiments. The computation is fast enough for online applications.

Purpose: Small-tip fast recovery (STFR) imaging has been proposed recently as a potential alternative to balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP). STFR relies on a tailored "tip-up" radio-frequency pulse to achieve comparable signal level as bSSFP, but with reduced banding artifacts and transient oscillations, and is compatible with magnetization-preparation pulses. Previous STFR implementations used two-dimensional or three-dimensional pulses spatially tailored to the accumulated phase calculated from a B0 field map, making the steady-state STFR signal contain some T2* weighting. Here, we propose to replace the spatially tailored pulse with a recently introduced spectrally selective "pre-winding" pulse that is precomputed to a target frequency range. The proposed "spectral-STFR" sequence produces T2/T1-weighted images similar to bSSFP, but with reduced banding and potentially other benefits., Theory and Methods: We investigated the steady-state signal properties of spectral-STFR using simulations, and phantom and human volunteer experiments., Results: Our simulation and experimental results showed that the spectral-STFR sequence has similar signal level and tissue contrast as bSSFP, but has a wider passband and more consistent banding profiles across different tissues (e.g., less hyperintense signal at band edges for low flip angles). Care is needed in designing the spectral radio-frequency pulse to ensure that the small tip angle approximation holds during radio-frequency transmission., Conclusion: Spectral-STFR has similar tissue contrast as bSSFP but a wider passband and more consistent cerebrospinal fluid/brain tissue contrast across the passband. The spectral-STFR sequence is a potential alternative to bSSFP in some applications. Compared to a spatially tailored STFR sequence, spectral-STFR can be precomputed, is easier to implement in practice, and potentially has more uniform image contrast and minimal T2* weighting., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Purpose: This work combines an n-dimensional fat sat(uration) radiofrequency (RF) pulse with steady-state incoherent (SSI) pulse sequences, e.g., spoiled gradient-echo sequence, to simultaneously produce B0 insensitive fat suppression and magnetization transfer (MT) contrast. This pulse is then referred to as "fat sat and MT contrast pulse.", Theory: We discuss the features of the fat sat and MT contrast pulse and the MT sensitivities of the SSI sequences when combining with fat sat. Moreover, we also introduce an adapted RF spoiling scheme for SSI sequences with fat sat., Methods: Simulations and phantom experiments were conducted to demonstrate the adapted RF spoiling. Fat suppression and MT effects are shown in 3T phantom experiments and in vivo experiments, including brain imaging, cartilage imaging, and angiography., Results: To ensure that the sequence reaches steady state, the adapted RF spoiling is required for fat sat SSI sequences. Fat sat and MT contrast pulse works robustly with field inhomogeneity and also produces MT contrasts., Conclusion: SSI sequences with fat sat and MT contrast pulse and adapted RF spoiling can robustly produce fat suppressed and MT contrast images in the presence of field inhomogeneity., (© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Sparsity-promoting regularization is useful for combining compressed sensing assumptions with parallel MRI for reducing scan time while preserving image quality. Variable splitting algorithms are the current state-of-the-art algorithms for SENSE-type MR image reconstruction with sparsity-promoting regularization. These methods are very general and have been observed to work with almost any regularizer; however, the tuning of associated convergence parameters is a commonly-cited hindrance in their adoption. Conversely, majorize-minimize algorithms based on a single Lipschitz constant have been observed to be slow in shift-variant applications such as SENSE-type MR image reconstruction since the associated Lipschitz constants are loose bounds for the shift-variant behavior. This paper bridges the gap between the Lipschitz constant and the shift-variant aspects of SENSE-type MR imaging by introducing majorizing matrices in the range of the regularizer matrix. The proposed majorize-minimize methods (called BARISTA) converge faster than state-of-the-art variable splitting algorithms when combined with momentum acceleration and adaptive momentum restarting. Furthermore, the tuning parameters associated with the proposed methods are unitless convergence tolerances that are easier to choose than the constraint penalty parameters required by variable splitting algorithms.

Purpose: To determine whether a recently proposed steady-state magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequence, "small-tip fast recovery" (STFR), can be used for functional brain imaging. Compared to existing functional MRI (fMRI) based on T2*-contrast and long echo time, STFR has the potential for high-resolution imaging with reduced B0 artifacts such as geometric distortions, blurring, or local signal dropout., Methods: We used Monte Carlo Bloch simulations to calculate the voxel-averaged steady-state signal during rest and activation, for blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) and STFR. STFR relies on a tailored "tip-up" radiofrequency pulse to align the spins with the longitudinal axis after each data readout segment, and here we performed proof-of-concept in vivo STFR fMRI experiments using a tip-up pulse tailored to a two-dimensional region-of-interest in motor cortex. Experiments were performed on multiple subjects to test reliability of the functional activation maps., Results: Bloch simulations predict a detectable functional signal that depends mainly on intravoxel dephasing, and only weakly on spin diffusion. STFR produces similar activation maps and signal change as BOLD in finger-tapping experiments, and shows reliability comparable to BOLD., Conclusion: STFR can produce functional contrast (even with short TE), and is a potential alternative to long-TE ( T2*) fMRI. The functional contrast arises primarily from the interaction between T2*-like dephasing and the tailored tip-up pulse, and not from spin diffusion., (© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Purpose: The conventional spectrally selective fat saturation pulse may perform poorly with inhomogeneous amplitude of static (polarizing) field (B0 ) and/or amplitude of (excitation) radiofrequency field (B1 ) fields. We propose a four dimensional spectral-spatial fat saturation pulse that is more robust to B0/B1 inhomogeneity and also shorter than the conventional fat saturation pulse., Theory: The proposed pulse is tailored for local B0 inhomogeneity, which avoids the need of a sharp transition band in the spectral domain, so it improves both performance and pulse length. Furthermore, it can also compensate for B1 inhomogeneity. The pulse is designed sequentially by small-tip-angle approximation design and an automatic rescaling procedure., Methods: The proposed method is compared to the conventional fat saturation in phantom experiments and in vivo knee imaging at 3 T for both single-channel and parallel excitation versions., Results: Compared to the conventional method, the proposed method produces superior fat suppression in the presence of B0 and B1 inhomogeneity and reduces pulse length by up to half of the standard length., Conclusion: The proposed four dimensional spectral-spatial fat saturation suppresses fat more robustly with shorter pulse length than the conventional fat saturation in the presence of B0 and B1 inhomogeneity., (© 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Parallel excitation requires fast and accurate B1 map estimation. Bloch-Siegert (BS) B1 mapping is very fast and accurate over a large dynamic range. When applied to multi-coil systems, however, this phase-based method may produce low signal-to-noise ratio estimates in low magnitude regions due to localized excitation patterns of parallel excitation systems. Also, the imaging time increases with the number of coils. In this work, we first propose to modify the standard BS B1 mapping sequence so that it avoids the scans required by previous B1 phase estimation methods. A regularized method is then proposed to jointly estimate the magnitude and phase of multi-coil B1 maps from BS B1 mapping data, improving estimation quality by using the prior knowledge of the smoothness of B1 magnitude and phase. Lastly, we use Cramer-Rao lower bound analysis to optimize the coil combinations, to improve the quality of the raw data for B1 estimation. The proposed methods are demonstrated by simulations and phantom experiments.

Parallel transmit is an emerging technology to address the technical challenges associated with MR imaging at high field strengths. When developing arrays for parallel transmit systems, one of the primary factors to be considered is the mechanism to manage coupling and create independently operating channels. Recent work has demonstrated the use of amplifiers to provide some or all of the channel-to-channel isolation, reducing the need for on-coil decoupling networks in a manner analogous to the use of isolation preamplifiers with receive coils. This paper discusses an eight-channel transmit/receive head array for use with an ultra-low output impedance (ULOI) parallel transmit system. The ULOI amplifiers eliminated the need for a complex lumped element network to decouple the eight-rung array. The design and construction details of the array are discussed in addition to the measurement considerations required for appropriately characterizing an array when using ULOI amplifiers. B1 maps and coupling matrices are used to verify the performance of the system., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Small-tip fast recovery (STFR) imaging is a recently proposed steady-state sequence that has similar image contrast as balanced steady-state free precession but has the potential to simultaneously remove banding artifacts and transient fluctuation. STFR relies on a "tip-up" radiofrequency (RF) pulse tailored to the accumulated phase during the free precession (data acquisition) interval, designed to bring spins back to the longitudinal axis, thereby preserving transverse magnetization as longitudinal magnetization for the next pulse repetition time. We recently proposed an RF-spoiled STFR sequence suitable for thin slab imaging, however, in many applications, e.g., functional magnetic resonance imaging or isotropic-resolution structural imaging, three-dimensional (3D) steady-state imaging is desirable. Unfortunately, 3D STFR imaging is challenging due to the need for 3D tailored RF pulses. Here, we propose new strategies for improved 3D STFR imaging, based on (i) unspoiled imaging, and (ii) joint design of nonslice-selective tip-down/tip-up RF pulses., Theory and Methods: We derive an analytic signal model for the proposed unspoiled STFR sequence, and propose two strategies for designing the 3D tailored tip-down/tip-up RF pulses. We validate the analytic results using phantom and in vivo imaging experiments., Results: Our analytic model and imaging experiments demonstrate that the proposed unspoiled STFR sequence is less sensitive to tip-up excitation error compared to the corresponding spoiled sequence, and may, therefore, be an attractive candidate for 3D imaging. The proposed "joint" RF pulse design method, in which we formulate the tip-down/tip-up RF pulse design task as a magnitude least squares problem, produces modest improvement over a simpler "Separate" design approach. Using the proposed unspoiled sequence and joint RF pulse design, we demonstrate proof-of-principle 3D STFR brain images with balanced steady-state free precession-like signal properties but with reduced banding., Conclusion: Using the proposed unspoiled sequence and joint RF pulse design, STFR brain images in a 3D region of interest with balanced steady-state free precession-like signal properties but with reduced banding can be obtained., (Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Small-tip fast recovery (STFR) imaging is a new steady-state imaging sequence that is a potential alternative to balanced steady-state free precession. Under ideal imaging conditions, STFR may provide comparable signal-to-noise ratio and image contrast as balanced steady-state free precession, but without signal variations due to resonance offset. STFR relies on a tailored "tip-up," or "fast recovery," radiofrequency pulse to align the spins with the longitudinal axis after each data readout segment. The design of the tip-up pulse is based on the acquisition of a separate off-resonance (B0) map. Unfortunately, the design of fast (a few ms) slice- or slab-selective radiofrequency pulses that accurately tailor the excitation pattern to the local B0 inhomogeneity over the entire imaging volume remains a challenging and unsolved problem. We introduce a novel implementation of STFR imaging based on "non-slice-selective" tip-up pulses, which simplifies the radiofrequency pulse design problem significantly. Out-of-slice magnetization pathways are suppressed using radiofrequency-spoiling. Brain images obtained with this technique show excellent gray/white matter contrast, and point to the possibility of rapid steady-state T(2)/T(1) -weighted imaging with intrinsic suppression of cerebrospinal fluid, through-plane vessel signal, and off-resonance artifacts. In the future, we expect STFR imaging to benefit significantly from parallel excitation hardware and high-order gradient shim systems., (Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Compressed sensing (CS) has been used for accelerating magnetic resonance imaging acquisitions, but its use in applications with rapid spatial phase variations is challenging, e.g., proton resonance frequency shift (PRF-shift) thermometry and velocity mapping. Previously, an iterative MRI reconstruction with separate magnitude and phase regularization was proposed for applications where magnitude and phase maps are both of interest, but it requires fully sampled data and unwrapped phase maps. In this paper, CS is combined into this framework to reconstruct magnitude and phase images accurately from undersampled data. Moreover, new phase regularization terms are proposed to accommodate phase wrapping and to reconstruct images with encoded phase variations, e.g., PRF-shift thermometry and velocity mapping. The proposed method is demonstrated with simulated thermometry data and in vivo velocity mapping data and compared to conventional phase corrected CS.

Purpose: To develop an approach for computer-aided detection (CAD) of small brain metastases in post-Gd T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)., Method: A set of unevenly spaced 3D spherical shell templates was optimized to localize brain metastatic lesions by cross-correlation analysis with MRI. Theoretical and simulation analyses of effects of lesion size and shape heterogeneity were performed to optimize the number and size of the templates and the cross-correlation thresholds. Also, effects of image factors of noise and intensity variation on the performance of the CAD system were investigated. A nodule enhancement strategy to improve sensitivity of the system and a set of criteria based upon the size, shape and brightness of lesions were used to reduce false positives. An optimal set of parameters from the FROC curves was selected from a training dataset, and then the system was evaluated on a testing dataset including 186 lesions from 2753 MRI slices. Reading results from two radiologists are also included., Results: Overall, a 93.5% sensitivity with 0.024 of intra-cranial false positive rate (IC-FPR) was achieved in the testing dataset. Our investigation indicated that nodule enhancement was very effective in improving both sensitivity and specificity. The size and shape criteria reduced the IC-FPR from 0.075 to 0.021, and the brightness criterion decreases the extra-cranial FPR from 0.477 to 0.083 in the training dataset. Readings from the two radiologists had sensitivities of 60% and 67% in the training dataset and 70% and 80% in the testing dataset for the metastatic lesions <5 mm in diameter., Conclusion: Our proposed CAD system has high sensitivity and fairly low FPR for detection of the small brain metastatic lesions in MRI compared to the previous work and readings of neuroradiologists. The potential of this method for assisting clinical decision- making warrants further evaluation and improvements., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A fast parallel excitation pulse design algorithm to select and to order phase-encoding (PE) locations (also known as "spokes") of an Echo-Volumar excitation k-space trajectory considering B(0) field inhomogeneity is presented. Recently, other groups have conducted research to choose optimal PE locations, but the potential benefit of considering B(0) field inhomogeneity during PE location selection or their ordering has not been fully investigated. This article introduces a novel fast greedy algorithm to determine PE locations and their order that takes into account the off-resonance effects. Computer simulations of the proposed algorithm for B(1) field inhomogeneity correction demonstrate that it not only improves excitation accuracy but also provides an effective ordering of the PE locations., (Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Large-tip-angle multidimensional radio-frequency (RF) pulse design is a difficult problem, due to the nonlinear response of magnetization to applied RF at large tip-angles. In parallel excitation, multidimensional RF pulse design is further complicated by the possibility for transmit field patterns to change between subjects, requiring pulses to be designed rapidly while a subject lies in the scanner. To accelerate pulse design, we introduce a fast version of the optimal control method for large-tip-angle parallel excitation. The new method is based on a novel approach to analytically linearizing the Bloch equation about a large-tip-angle RF pulse, which results in an approximate linear model for the perturbations created by adding a small-tip-angle pulse to a large-tip-angle pulse. The linear model can be evaluated rapidly using nonuniform fast Fourier transforms, and we apply it iteratively to produce a sequence of pulse updates that improve excitation accuracy. We achieve drastic reductions in design time and memory requirements compared to conventional optimal control, while producing pulses of similar accuracy. The new method can also compensate for nonidealities such as main field inhomogeneties.

T(2)*-weighted functional MR images suffer from signal loss artifacts caused by the magnetic susceptibility differences between air cavities and brain tissues. We propose a novel spectral-spatial pulse design that is slice-selective and capable of mitigating the signal loss. The two-dimensional spectral-spatial pulses create precompensatory phase variations that counteract through-plane dephasing, relying on the assumption that resonance frequency offset and through-plane field gradient are spatially correlated. The pulses can be precomputed before functional MRI experiments and used repeatedly for different slices in different subjects. Experiments with human subjects showed that the pulses were effective in slice selection and loss mitigation at different brain regions., ((c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

This work examines support vector machine (SVM) classification of complex fMRI data, both in the image domain and in the acquired k-space data. We achieve high classification accuracy using the magnitude data in both domains. Additionally, we maintain high classification accuracy even when using only partial k-space data. Thus we demonstrate the feasibility of using kspace data for classification, enabling rapid realtime acquisition and classification.

In fast magnetic resonance (MR) imaging with long readout times, such as echo-planar imaging (EPI) and spiral scans, it is important to correct for the effects of field inhomogeneity to reduce image distortion and blurring. Such corrections require an accurate field map, a map of the off-resonance frequency at each voxel. Standard field map estimation methods yield noisy field maps, particularly in image regions with low spin density. This paper describes regularized methods for field map estimation from two or more MR scans having different echo times. These methods exploit the fact that field maps are generally smooth functions. The methods use algorithms that decrease monotonically a regularized least-squares cost function, even though the problem is highly nonlinear. Results show that the proposed regularized methods significantly improve the quality of field map estimates relative to conventional unregularized methods.

Blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is conventionally done by reconstructing T(2)(*)-weighted images. However, since the images are unitless they are nonquantifiable in terms of important physiological parameters. An alternative approach is to reconstruct R(2)(*) maps which are quantifiable and have comparable BOLD contrast as T(2)(*)-weighted images. However, conventional R(2)(*) mapping involves long readouts and ignores relaxation during readout. Another problem with fMRI imaging is temporal drift/fluctuations in off-resonance. Conventionally, a field map is collected at the start of the fMRI study to correct for off-resonance, ignoring any temporal changes. Here, we propose a new fast regularized iterative algorithm that jointly reconstructs R(2)(*) and field maps for all time frames in fMRI data. To accelerate the algorithm we linearize the MR signal model, enabling the use of fast regularized iterative reconstruction methods. The regularizer was designed to account for the different resolution properties of both R(2)(*) and field maps and provide uniform spatial resolution. For fMRI data with the same temporal frame rate as data collected for T(2)(*)-weighted imaging the resulting R(2)(*) maps performed comparably to T(2)(*)-weighted images in activation detection while also correcting for spatially global and local temporal changes in off-resonance.

Purpose: To show that cystic renal lesions that would otherwise meet criteria for simple cysts can demonstrate perceptible walls or increased wall thickness on MRI, sometimes causing these lesions to be "upgraded." It was hypothesized that thickening of cyst walls on MRI can be artifactual, due to data truncation, applied filtering, and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR)., Materials and Methods: k-Space data for a 4-cm cyst were created in a 40-cm field of view (FOV) (512 x 512 matrix). Additional data sets were created using the central 512 x 256 and 512 x 128 points. Noise was simulated so that the cyst SNR was approximately 7, 14, and 20, respectively. Actual wall thickness was set at 0.25 mm, and cyst:wall signal at 1:4. An inverse two-dimensional (2D) fast Fourier transform (FFT) yielded simulated images. A Fermi filter was applied to reduce ringing. Images/projections were examined for wall thickening. Seven patients with initially thick-walled cysts on fat-saturated spoiled gradient-echo (FS-SPGR) images were scanned with increasing resolution (256 x 128 and 256 x 256; four patients were also scanned with 512 x 512). Average wall thickness at each resolution was compared using a two-tailed paired Student's t-test., Results: Simulations showed apparent wall thickening at low resolution, improving with higher resolutions. Low SNR and application of the Fermi filter made it difficult to identify ringing as the cause of this thickening. The simulation results were confirmed on seven patients, whose cyst walls proved to be artifactually thickened (P < 0.01)., Conclusion: Thickening of cyst walls on MRI can be artifactual. Upon encountering thick-walled cystic renal lesions, high-resolution images can be acquired to exclude apparent thickening., ((c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Current methods for parallel excitation RF pulse design are based on the small-tip-angle approximation, which provides a computationally efficient means of pulse calculation. In general, pulses designed with those methods are inaccurate when scaled to produce large-tip angles, and methods for large-tip-angle pulse design are more computationally demanding. This paper introduces a fast iterative method for large-tip-angle parallel pulse design that is formulated as a small number of Bloch equation simulations and fast small-tip-angle pulse designs, the results of which add to produce large-tip-angle pulses. Simulations and a phantom experiment demonstrate that the method is effective in designing multidimensional large-tip-angle pulses of high excitation accuracy, compared to pulses designed with small-tip-angle methods.

We propose an alternating optimization framework for the joint design of excitation k-space trajectory and RF pulses for small-tip-angle parallel excitation. Using Bloch simulations, we show that compared with conventional designs with predetermined trajectories, joint designs can often excite target patterns with improved accuracy and reduced total integrated pulse power, particularly at high reduction factors. These benefits come at a modest increase in computational time., (Copyright (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Parallel transmitter techniques are a promising approach for reducing transmitter B1 inhomogeneity due to the potential for adjusting the spatial excitation profile with independent RF pulses. These techniques may be further improved with transmit sensitivity encoding (SENSE) methods because the sensitivity information in pulse design provides an excitation that is inherently compensated for transmitter B1 inhomogeneity. This paper presents a proof of this concept using transmit SENSE 3D tailored RF pulses designed for small flip angles. An eight-channel receiver coil was used to mimic parallel transmission for brain imaging at 3T. The transmit SENSE pulses were based on the fast-k(z) design and produced 5-mm-thick slices at a flip angle of 30 degrees with only a 4.3-ms pulse length. It was found that the transmit SENSE pulses produced more homogeneous images than those obtained from the complex sum of images from all receivers excited with a standard RF pulse., ((c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

To improve the overall temporal and spatial resolution of brain mapping techniques, in animal models, some attempts have been reported to join electrophysiological methods with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, little attention has been paid to the image artefacts produced by the microelectrodes that compromise the anatomical or functional information of those studies. This work presents a group of simulations and MR images that show the limitations of wire microelectrodes and the potential advantages of silicon technology, in terms of image quality, in MRI environments. Magnetic field perturbations are calculated using a Fourier-based method for platinum (Pt) and tungsten (W) microwires as well as two different silicon technologies. We conclude that image artefacts produced by microelectrodes are highly dependent not only on the magnetic susceptibility of the materials used but also on the size, shape and orientation of the electrodes with respect to the main magnetic field. In addition silicon microelectrodes present better MRI characteristics than metallic microelectrodes. However, metallization layers added to silicon materials can adversely affect the quality of MR images. Therefore only those silicon microelectrodes that minimize the amount of metallic material can be considered MR-compatible and therefore suitable for possible simultaneous fMRI and electrophysiological studies. High resolution gradient echo images acquired at 2 T (TR/TE = 100/15 ms, voxel size = 100 x 100 x 100 microm3) of platinum-iridium (Pt-Ir, 90%-10%) and tungsten microwires show a complete signal loss that covers a volume significantly larger than the actual volume occupied by the microelectrodes: roughly 400 times larger for Pt-Ir and 180 for W, at the tip of the microelectrodes. Similar MR images of a single-shank silicon microelectrode only produce a partial volume effect on the voxels occupied by the probe with less than 50% of signal loss.

The optimal use of turbo continuous arterial spin labeling (Turbo-CASL) for functional imaging in the presence of activation-induced transit time (TT) changes was investigated. Functional imaging of a bilateral finger-tapping task showed improved sensitivity for Turbo-CASL as compared to traditional CASL techniques for four of six subjects when scanned at an appropriate repetition time (TR). Both experimental and simulation results suggest that for optimal functional sensitivity with Turbo-CASL, the pulse TR should be set to a value that is 100-200 ms less than the resting-state TT. Simulations were also run to demonstrate the differences in TT sensitivity of different slices within a multislice acquisition, and the signal loss that is expected as the number of slices is increased. Despite the lower baseline ASL signal provided by the Turbo-CASL acquisition, one can achieve equal or improved functional sensitivity due in part to the signal enhancement that accompanies the decrease in TT upon activation. Turbo-CASL is thus a promising technique for functional ASL at higher temporal resolution.

T(2) (*)-weighted functional MR images are plagued by signal loss artifacts caused by susceptibility-induced through-plane dephasing. We present major advances to the original three-dimensional tailored RF (3DTRF) pulse method that pre-compensates the dephasing using three-dimensional selective excitation. The proposed 3DTRF pulses are designed iteratively with off-resonance incorporation and with a novel echo-volumar trajectory that frequency-encodes in z and phase-encodes in x,y. We also propose a computational scheme to accelerate the pulse design process. We demonstrate effective signal recovery in a 5-mm slice in both phantom and inferior brain, using 3DTRF pulses that are only 15.4 ms long. Compared to the original method, the new approach leads to significantly reduced pulse length and enhancement in slice selectivity. 3D images of the slice volume confirm fidelity of the excited phase pattern and slice profile., ((c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Changes in the cerebral blood flow (CBF) baseline produce significant changes to the hemodynamic response. This work shows that increases in the baseline blood flow level produce blood oxygenation-level dependent (BOLD) and blood flow responses that are slower and lower in amplitude, while decreases in the baseline blood flow level produce faster and higher amplitude hemodynamic responses. This effect was characterized using a vascular model of the hemodynamic response that separated arterial blood flow response from the venous blood volume response and linked the input stimulus to the vascular response. The model predicted the baseline blood flow level effects to be dominated by changes in the arterial vasculature. Specifically, it predicted changes in the arterial blood flow time constant and venous blood volume time constant parameters of +294% and -24%, respectively, for a 27% increase in the baseline blood flow. The vascular model performance was compared to an empirical model of the hemodynamic response. The vascular and empirical hemodynamic models captured most of the baseline blood flow level effects observed and can be used to correct for these effects in fMRI data. While the empirical hemodynamic model is easy to implement, it did not incorporate any explicit physiological information.

An extension of the "UNaliasing by Fourier encoding the Overlaps using the temporaL Dimension" (UNFOLD) method to the excitation domain (XUNFOLD) is presented to improve the temporal resolution of multishot tailored RF (TRF) pulses. Multishot three-dimensional TRF pulses were designed to produce a time series of images with periodically aliased excitation profiles. The XUNFOLD method is shown to remove the excitation profile aliasing from the dynamic imaging data by filtering in the temporal frequency dimension. The technique is demonstrated to improve the temporal resolution of simulated functional MRI (fMRI) activation in a time series of brain images., (Copyright (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

Parallel excitation has been introduced as a means of accelerating multidimensional, spatially-selective excitation using multiple transmit coils, each driven by a unique RF pulse. Previous approaches to RF pulse design in parallel excitation were either formulated in the frequency domain or restricted to echo-planar trajectories, or both. This paper presents an approach that is formulated as a quadratic optimization problem in the spatial domain and allows the use of arbitrary k-space trajectories. Compared to frequency domain approaches, the new design method has some important advantages. It allows for the specification of a region of interest (ROI), which improves excitation accuracy at high speedup factors. It allows for magnetic field inhomogeneity compensation during excitation. Regularization may be used to control integrated and peak pulse power. The effects of Bloch equation nonlinearity on the large-tip-angle excitation error of RF pulses designed with the method are investigated, and the utility of Tikhonov regularization in mitigating this error is demonstrated., (Copyright (c) 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)