The optic nerve is known to be one of the largest nerve bundles in the human central nervous system. There have been many studies of optic nerve imaging and post-processing that have provided ...insights into pathophysiology of optic neuritis related to multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder, glaucoma, and Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy. There are many challenges in optic nerve imaging, due to the morphology of the nerve through its course to the optic chiasm, its mobility due to eye movements and the high signal from cerebrospinal fluid and orbital fat surrounding the optic nerve. Recently, many advanced and fast imaging sequences have been used with post-processing techniques in attempts to produce higher resolution images of the optic nerve for evaluating various diseases. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is one of the most common imaging methodologies for the optic nerve. This review paper will focus on recent MRI advances in optic nerve imaging and explain several post-processing techniques being used for analysis of optic nerve images. Finally, some challenges and potential for future optic nerve studies will be discussed.
This study investigated nine combination methods produced from three interpolation (Lanczos, iterative curvature based interpolation, and contrast‐guided) and three segmentation (spatial fuzzy ...C‐means, modified fuzzy C‐means mFCM, and level set method) models from optic nerve magnetic resonance images (MRI). The aim was to produce sharp edges of the optic nerves for cross‐sectional area measurement. Lanczos‐mFCM was identified as the best combination in terms of: image quality; Dice similarity coefficient; a similar area compared with measurements from raw images but with higher reproducibility; and the highest signal‐to‐noise and contrast‐to‐noise ratios. It was then applied to ten normal datasets. The mean cross‐sectional areas were 12.57 ± 1.92mm2 from proton density images, 12.98 ± 2.18mm2 from T2‐weighted (T2W) images including the optic nerve sheath, and 1.68 ± 0.69mm2 from the T2W images of the optic nerve only. The Lanczos‐mFCM method is recommended for future quantitative studies on optic nerve MRI.
To establish whether fetal exposure to the operating noise of 1.5-T magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is associated with cochlear injury and subsequent hearing loss in neonates.
The study was performed ...with local research ethics committee approval and written informed parental consent. Neonatal hearing test results, including otoacoustic emission (OAE) data, were sought for all neonates delivered in Sheffield who had previously undergone in utero MR imaging between August 1999 and September 2007. The prevalence of hearing impairment in these neonates was determined, with corresponding 95% confidence intervals calculated by using the binomial exact method, and mean OAE measurements were compared with anonymized local audiometric reference data by using the t test.
One hundred three neonates who had undergone in utero MR imaging were identified; 96 of them had completed hearing screening assessment. Thirty-four of these babies were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and one of them had bilateral hearing impairment. The prevalence of hearing impairment was 1% (one of 96; 95% confidence interval: 0.03%, 5.67%), which is in accordance with the prevalence expected, given the high proportion of babies in this study who had been in the NICU (ie, NICU graduates). In addition, for the well babies, there was no significant difference in mean OAE cochlear response compared with that for a reference data set of more than 16,000 OAE results. When NICU graduates were included in the comparison, a significant difference (P = .002) was found in one of four frequency bands used to analyze the cochlear response; however, this difference was small compared with the normal variation in OAE measurements.
The findings in this study provide some evidence that exposure of the fetus to 1.5-T MR imaging during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy is not associated with an increased risk of substantial neonatal hearing impairment.
Abstract
Poor sperm motility is a common cause of male infertility for which there are no empirical therapies. Sperm motility is powered by adenosine triphosphate but the relative importance of ...lactate fermentation and Oxidative Phosphorylation (OxPhos) is debated. To study the relationship between energy metabolism and sperm motility we used dissolution Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (dDNP) for the first time to show the rapid conversion of
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-pyruvate to lactate and bicarbonate, indicating active glycolytic and OxPhos metabolism in sperm. The magnitude of both lactate and bicarbonate signals were positively correlated with the concentration of progressively motile sperm. After controlling for sperm concentration, increased progressive sperm motility generated more pyruvate conversion to lactate and bicarbonate. The technique of dDNP allows ‘snapshots’ of sperm metabolism to be tracked over the different stages of their life. This may provide help to uncover the causes of poor sperm motility and suggest new approaches for novel treatments or therapies.
We have developed a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-compatible system to enable gating of a scanner to the heartbeat of a foetus for cardiac, umbilical cord flow and other possible imaging ...applications. We performed radiofrequency safety testing prior to a fetal electrocardiogram (fECG) gated imaging study in pregnant volunteers (n = 3). A compact monitoring device with advanced software capable of reliably detecting both the maternal electrocardiogram (mECG) and fECG simultaneously was modified by the manufacturer (Monica Healthcare, Nottingham, UK) to provide an external TTL trigger signal from the detected fECG which could be used to trigger a standard 1.5 T MR (GE Healthcare, Milwaukee, WI, USA) gating system with suitable attenuation. The MR scanner was tested by triggering rapidly during image acquisition at a typical fetal heart rate (123 beats per minute) using a simulated fECG waveform fed into the gating system. Gated MR images were also acquired from volunteers who were attending for a repeat fetal Central Nervous System (CNS) examination using an additional rapid cardiac imaging sequence triggered from the measured fECG. No adverse safety effects were encountered. This is the first time fECG gating has been used with MRI and opens up a range of new possibilities to study a developing foetus.
Objectives
MR imaging of neonates is difficult for many reasons and a major factor is safe transport to the MR facilities. In this article we describe the use of a small, investigational 3-T MR ...customised for brain imaging and sited on a neonatal unit of a tertiary centre in the UK, which is in contrast to a 300-m journey to the whole-body MR scanner used at present for clinical cases.
Methods
We describe our methods for preparing babies for safe transport and scanning on an investigational 3-T MR scanner on a neonatal unit and the development of appropriate MR sequences. The MR scanner does not have CE marking at present so this early development work was undertaken on normal neonates whose parents consented to a research examination.
Results
Fifty-two babies were scanned and there were no serious adverse events. The MR examinations were considered to be diagnostically evaluable in all 52 cases and in 90% the imaging was considered to be at least as good as the quality obtained on the 1.5-T scanner currently used for clinical cases.
Conclusion
We have shown that this investigational 3-T MR scanner can be used safely on a neonatal unit and we have refined the MR sequences to a point that they are clinically usable.
Key Points
• Access to neonatal MR imaging is limited.
• We describe an investigational 3-T MR scanner site on a neonatal unit.
• The scanner produces images suitable for clinical practice.
This review describes targeted magnetic resonance imaging (tMRI) of small changes in the T1 and the spatial properties of normal or near normal appearing white or gray matter in disease of the brain. ...It employs divided subtracted inversion recovery (dSIR) and divided reverse subtracted inversion recovery (drSIR) sequences to increase the contrast produced by small changes in T1 by up to 15 times compared to conventional T1-weighted inversion recovery (IR) sequences such as magnetization prepared-rapid acquisition gradient echo (MP-RAGE). This increase in contrast can be used to reveal disease with only small changes in T1 in normal appearing white or gray matter that is not apparent on conventional MP-RAGE, T2-weighted spin echo (T2-wSE) and/or fluid attenuated inversion recovery (T2-FLAIR) images. The small changes in T1 or T2 in disease are insufficient to produce useful contrast with conventional sequences. To produce high contrast dSIR and drSIR sequences typically need to be targeted for the nulling TI of normal white or gray matter, as well as for the sign and size of the change in T1 in these tissues in disease. The dSIR sequence also shows high signal boundaries between white and gray matter. dSIR and drSIR are essentially T1 maps. There is a nearly linear relationship between signal and T1 in the middle domain (mD) of the two sequences which includes T1s between the nulling T1s of the two acquired IR sequences. The drSIR sequence is also very sensitive to reductions in T1 produced by Gadolinium based contrast agents (GBCAs), and when used with rigid body registration to align three-dimensional (3D) isotropic pre and post GBCA images may be of considerable value in showing subtle GBCA enhancement. In serial MRI studies performed at different times, the high signal boundaries generated by dSIR and drSIR sequences can be used with rigid body registration of 3D isotropic images to demonstrate contrast arising from small changes in T1 (without or with GBCA enhancement) as well as small changes in the spatial properties of normal tissues and lesions, such as their site, shape, size and surface. Applications of the sequences in cases of multiple sclerosis (MS) and methamphetamine dependency are illustrated. Using targeted narrow mD dSIR sequences, widespread abnormalities were seen in areas of normal appearing white matter shown with conventional T2-wSE and T2-FLAIR sequences. Understanding of the features of dSIR and drSIR images is facilitated by the use of their T1-bipolar filters; to explain their targeting, signal, contrast, boundaries, T1 mapping and GBCA enhancement. Targeted MRI (tMRI) using dSIR and drSIR sequences may substantially improve clinical MRI of the brain by providing unequivocal demonstration of abnormalities that are not seen with conventional sequences.
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•MR compatible injection system that can be operated in high magnetic fringe field.•Automated rapid, accurate and reproducible multipart injection of hyperpolarized substrate.•Flow ...direction control minimizes dead volume in cannula to increase in vivo signal.•Sample mixer provides homogeneity of injected pyruvate, pH 7.1±0.3, mean±S.D.•Between 100μl to 10.000ml delivered volume was 97.8% of demand.
Over recent years hyperpolarization by dissolution dynamic nuclear polarization has become an established technique for studying metabolism in vivo in animal models. Temporal signal plots obtained from the injected metabolite and daughter products, e.g. pyruvate and lactate, can be fitted to compartmental models to estimate kinetic rate constants. Modeling and physiological parameter estimation can be made more robust by consistent and reproducible injections through automation. An injection system previously developed by us was limited in the injectable volume to between 0.6 and 2.4ml and injection was delayed due to a required syringe filling step. An improved MR-compatible injector system has been developed that measures the pH of injected substrate, uses flow control to reduce dead volume within the injection cannula and can be operated over a larger volume range. The delay time to injection has been minimized by removing the syringe filling step by use of a peristaltic pump. For 100μl to 10.000ml, the volume range typically used for mice to rabbits, the average delivered volume was 97.8% of the demand volume. The standard deviation of delivered volumes was 7μl for 100μl and 20μl for 10.000ml demand volumes (mean S.D. was 9 ul in this range). In three repeat injections through a fixed 0.96mm O.D. tube the coefficient of variation for the area under the curve was 2%. For in vivo injections of hyperpolarized pyruvate in tumor-bearing rats, signal was first detected in the input femoral vein cannula at 3–4s post-injection trigger signal and at 9–12s in tumor tissue. The pH of the injected pyruvate was 7.1±0.3 (mean±S.D., n=10). For small injection volumes, e.g. less than 100μl, the internal diameter of the tubing contained within the peristaltic pump could be reduced to improve accuracy. Larger injection volumes are limited only by the size of the receiving vessel connected to the pump.
Iron content of the basal ganglia was investigated in 25 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease and 14 matched healthy control subjects using a partially refocused interleaved multiple echo ...sequence on a 1.5 Tesla MRI system. R2* (1/T2*) and R2′ (1/T2′) relaxation rates were higher in the substantia nigra of patients with Parkinson's disease, which indicates that iron content is elevated in this region. R2′ was lower in the putamen, indicating reduced iron levels; reduction in this region was positively correlated with disease duration. Iron-related oxidative stress may contribute to the neurodegeneration of Parkinson's disease, which may lead to alterations in the iron levels of the striatum. We describe a simple, non-invasive technique for measuring iron content.
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