• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제10권2호
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• pp.108-116
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• 2006

목적 : 3.0 Tesla 고 자장에서 고 해상도 나선주사영상을 수행하였다. 나선주사영상은 초고속 영상기법의 하나로서, Echo Planar Imaging(EPI)에 비하여 eddy current 가 작게 발생하고, 경사자계 파형의 기울기가 완만하여 상대적으로 낮은 slew rate 를 가진 경사자계시스템으로 구현이 가능한 장점이 있다. 또한 고 자장 영상에서 고속스핀에코(Fast Spin Echo: FSE) 등의 rf 에코 기반의 고속영상방법에서 심각하게 대두되는 SAR 문제가 근원적으로 발생하지 않는 장점이 있어 고 자장에서의 초고속영상방법으로 주목을 받고 있다. 본 연구에서는 3.0 Tesla 에서 나선주사방식으로 고 해상도 영상을 얻어 고 자장 MRI에서 나선주사영상기법의 다양한 응용 가능성을 살펴보고자 한다. 대상 및 방법 : 3 Tesla 전신 자기 공명 영상 시스템에서 다양한 해상도의 나선주사영상 방법을 개발하였다. 고차(higher-order) shimming 을 통하여 영상의 화질을 개선하였고, 해상도에 맞게 interleaves 수를 조절하였다. 스핀에코 와 gradient에코 기반 나선주사영상방법을 구현하였고, 에코 time 과 repetition time, rf 회전 각도를 조절하여 영상의 대조도(contrast)와 신호대잡음비를 조절하였다. 결과 : 3 Tesla 전신 자기 공명 영상 시스템에서 나선 주사 방법을 이용하여 다양한 해상도의 영상을 얻었다. 고 자장에서 주 자장의 불균일도(inhomogeneity) 의 절대 크기가 커지기 때문에 이를 줄이기 위한 shimming 이 더욱 중요해진다. 한번의 스캔으로 axial, sagittal, coronal 방향의 불균일도 map을 구하여 spherical harmonics 분석으로 고차 shimming을 하였다. 팬텀과 in-vivo 두부 영상에서 single shot 나선주사 영상으로 $100{\times}100$ 정도의 영상과 6-12 정도의 interleaves 를 적용하여 $256{\times}256$ 의 고 해상도 영상을 얻을 수 있었다. 결론 : 신호대잡음비의 향상과 스펙트럼의 분리, 뇌기능영상에서 BOLD 효과 향상 등으로 고자장 영상에 대한 관심이 높아지고 있다. 그러나 고 자장 영상에서의 rf field 에 의한 SAR 증가는 중요한 제한 요소로 부각되고 있다. 나선주사영상은 SAR 문제가 근원적으로 발생하지 않고, EPI에 비하여 하드웨어 요구 조건이 낮아 고 자장에서의 고속영상방법으로 적합하다. 본 논문에서는 고차 shimming 을 통하여 불균일도를 개선하고, single shot 과 interleaving 을 적용한 multi-shot 나선주사영상 기법으로 $100{\times}100$에서 $256{\times}256$의 고해상도 영상을 얻어 고 자장에서 초고속영상기법으로 다양한 적용 가능성을 보였다.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제21권4호
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• pp.210-222
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• 2017

Purpose: To develop a novel combination of controlled aliasing in parallel imaging results in higher acceleration (CAIPIRINHA) with integrated SSFP (CAIPI-iSSFP) for accelerated SSFP imaging without banding artifacts at 3T. Materials and Methods: CAIPI-iSSFP was developed by adding a dephasing gradient to the balanced SSFP (bSSFP) pulse sequence with a gradient area that results in $2{\pi}$ dephasing across a single pixel. Extended phase graph (EPG) simulations were performed to show the signal behaviors of iSSFP, bSSFP, and RF-spoiled gradient echo (SPGR) sequences. In vivo experiments were performed for brain and abdominal imaging at 3T with simultaneous multi-slice (SMS) acceleration factors of 2, 3 and 4 with CAIPI-iSSFP and CAIPI-bSSFP. The image quality was evaluated by measuring the relative contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) and by qualitatively assessing banding artifact removal in the brain. Results: Banding artifacts were removed using CAIPI-iSSFP compared to CAIPI-bSSFP up to an SMS factor of 4 and 3 on brain and liver imaging, respectively. The relative CNRs between gray and white matter were on average 18% lower in CAIPI-iSSFP compared to that of CAIPI-bSSFP. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that CAIPI-iSSFP provides up to a factor of four acceleration, while minimizing the banding artifacts with up to a 20% decrease in the relative CNR.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제47권6호
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• pp.437-441
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• 2010

Objective : The precise intra- vs. extradural localization of aneurysms involving the paraclinoid internal carotid artery is critical for the evaluation of patients being considered for aneurysm surgery. The purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical usefulness of T2-weighted threedimensional (3-D) fast spin-echo (FSE) magnetic resonance (MR) imaging in the evaluation of unruptured paraclinoid aneurysms. Methods : Twenty-eight patients with unruptured cerebral aneurysms in their paraclinoid regions were prospectively evaluated using a T2- weighted 3-D FSE MR imaging technique with oblique coronal sections. The MR images were assessed for the location of the cerebral aneurysm in relation to the dural ring and other surrounding anatomic compartments, and were also compared with the surgical or angiographic findings. Results : All 28 aneurysms were identified by T2-weighted 3D FSE MR imaging, which showed the precise anatomic relationships in regards to the subarachnoid space and the surrounding anatomic structures. Consequently, 13 aneurysms were determined to be intradural and the other 15 were deemed extradural as they were confined to the cavernous sinus. Of the 13 aneurysms with intradural locations, three superior hypophyseal artery aneurysms were found to be situated intradurally upon operation. Conclusion : High-resolution T2-weighted 3-D FSE MR imaging is capable of confirming whether a cerebral aneurysm at the paraclinoid region is intradural or extradural, because of the MR imaging's high spatial resolution. The images may help in identifying patients with intradural aneurysms who require treatment, and they also can provide valuable information in the treatment plan for paraclinoid aneurysms.

• International Journal of Contents
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• 제8권4호
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• pp.56-63
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• 2012

In recent decades, analyzing the activities of human brain achieved some accomplishments by using the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) technique. fMRI data provide a sequence of three-dimensional images related to human brain's activity which can be used to detect instantaneous cognitive states by applying machine learning methods. In this paper, we propose a new approach for distinguishing human's cognitive states such as "observing a picture" versus "reading a sentence" and "reading an affirmative sentence" versus "reading a negative sentence". Since fMRI data are high dimensional (about 100,000 features in each sample), extremely sparse and noisy, feature selection is a very important step for increasing classification accuracy and reducing processing time. We used the Fisher Discriminant Ratio to select the most powerful discriminative features from some Regions of Interest (ROIs). The experimental results showed that our approach achieved the best performance compared to other feature extraction methods with the average accuracy approximately 95.83% for the first study and 99.5% for the second study.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.215-223
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• 2016

Purpose: The management of metal-induced field inhomogeneities is one of the major concerns of distortion-free magnetic resonance images near metallic implants. The recently proposed method called "Slice Encoding for Metal Artifact Correction (SEMAC)" is an effective spin echo pulse sequence of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) near metallic implants. However, as SEMAC uses the noisy resolved data elements, SEMAC images can have a major problem for improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) without compromising the correction of metal artifacts. To address that issue, this paper presents a novel reconstruction technique for providing an improvement of the SNR in SEMAC images without sacrificing the correction of metal artifacts. Materials and Methods: Low-rank approximation in each coil image is first performed to suppress the noise in the slice direction, because the signal is highly correlated between SEMAC-encoded slices. Secondly, SEMAC images are reconstructed by the best linear unbiased estimator (BLUE), also known as Gauss-Markov or weighted least squares. Noise levels and correlation in the receiver channels are considered for the sake of SNR optimization. To this end, since distorted excitation profiles are sparse, $l_1$ minimization performs well in recovering the sparse distorted excitation profiles and the sparse modeling of our approach offers excellent correction of metal-induced distortions. Results: Three images reconstructed using SEMAC, SEMAC with the conventional two-step noise reduction, and the proposed image denoising for metal MRI exploiting sparsity and low rank approximation algorithm were compared. The proposed algorithm outperformed two methods and produced 119% SNR better than SEMAC and 89% SNR better than SEMAC with the conventional two-step noise reduction. Conclusion: We successfully demonstrated that the proposed, novel algorithm for SEMAC, if compared with conventional de-noising methods, substantially improves SNR and reduces artifacts.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제63권3호
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• pp.88-95
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• 2020

Accurate localization of the seizure onset zone is important for better seizure outcomes and preventing deficits following epilepsy surgery. Recent advances in neuroimaging techniques have increased our understanding of the underlying etiology and improved our ability to noninvasively identify the seizure onset zone. Using epilepsy-specific magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) protocols, structural MRI allows better detection of the seizure onset zone, particularly when it is interpreted by experienced neuroradiologists. Ultra-high-field imaging and postprocessing analysis with automated machine learning algorithms can detect subtle structural abnormalities in MRI-negative patients. Tractography derived from diffusion tensor imaging can delineate white matter connections associated with epilepsy or eloquent function, thus, preventing deficits after epilepsy surgery. Arterial spin-labeling perfusion MRI, simultaneous electroencephalography (EEG)-functional MRI (fMRI), and magnetoencephalography (MEG) are noinvasive imaging modalities that can be used to localize the epileptogenic foci and assist in planning epilepsy surgery with positron emission tomography, ictal single-photon emission computed tomography, and intracranial EEG monitoring. MEG and fMRI can localize and lateralize the area of the cortex that is essential for language, motor, and memory function and identify its relationship with planned surgical resection sites to reduce the risk of neurological impairments. These advanced structural and functional imaging modalities can be combined with postprocessing methods to better understand the epileptic network and obtain valuable clinical information for predicting long-term outcomes in pediatric epilepsy.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.87-94
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• 2010

목적: 금속에 의한 영상 왜곡에 대한 정확한 계산하고 영상으로부터의 금속 물질의 위치 결정한다. 대상 및 방법: 주자기장과 일정 각도를 이루는 무한히 긴 비자성 금속 실린더에 대한 라플라스 방정식을 풀고, 이 결과를 이용하여 절편선택 경사자계와 주파수 부호화 경사자계에 의한 영상에 왜곡을 계산한다. 계산 결과를 바탕으로 하여 왜곡된 영상으로부터 원통형 보철물의 위치를 계산한다. 결과: Folded point와 금속 실린더의 중심 사이의 거리를 영상으로부터 측정하여 계산 결과와 비교한다. 측정 결과와 계산 결과 간의 퍼센트 오차는 한 경우를 제외하고 5% 이내였다. 결론: 금속 실린더가 자기장 하에 있을 때, 영상의 왜곡을 시뮬레이션 하였고, 이 기술은 생검술 또는 외과 수술 등을 자기공명영상법을 이용여 실시간 모니터링하는데 적용할 수 있을 것으로 기대한다.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.218-228
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• 2018

Purpose: The objective of this study is to determine the effect of physical changes on MR temperature imaging at 7.0T and to examine proton-resonance-frequency related changes of MR phase images and T1 related changes of MR magnitude images, which are obtained for MR thermometry at various magnetic field strengths. Materials and Methods: An MR-compatible capacitive-coupled radio-frequency hyperthermia system was implemented for heating a phantom and swine muscle tissue, which can be used for both 7.0T and 3.0T MRI. To determine the effect of flip angle correction on T1-based MR thermometry, proton resonance frequency, apparent T1, actual flip angle, and T1 images were obtained. For this purpose, three types of imaging sequences are used, namely, T1-weighted fast field echo with variable flip angle method, dual repetition time method, and variable flip angle method with radio-frequency field nonuniformity correction. Results: Signal-to-noise ratio of the proton resonance frequency shift-based temperature images obtained at 7.0T was five-fold higher than that at 3.0T. The T1 value increases with increasing temperature at both 3.0T and 7.0T. However, temperature measurement using apparent T1-based MR thermometry results in bias and error because B1 varies with temperature. After correcting for the effect of B1 changes, our experimental results confirmed that the calculated T1 increases with increasing temperature both at 3.0T and 7.0T. Conclusion: This study suggests that the temperature-induced flip angle variations need to be considered for accurate temperature measurements in T1-based MR thermometry.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.53-60
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• 2016

Purpose: To develop a technique for quantifying the $^{13}C$-metabolites by performing frequency-selective hyperpolarized $^{13}C$ magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) in vitro which combines simple spectrally-selective excitation with spectrally interleaved acquisition. Methods: Numerical simulations were performed with varying noise level and $K_p$ values to compare the quantification accuracies of the proposed and the conventional methods. For in vitro experiments, a spectrally-selective excitation scheme was enabled by narrow-band radiofrequency (RF) excitation pulse implemented into a free-induction decay chemical shift imaging (FIDCSI) sequence. Experiments with LDH / NADH enzyme mixture were performed to validate the effectiveness of the proposed acquisition method. Also, a modified two-site exchange model was formulated for metabolism kinetics quantification with the proposed method. Results: From the simulation results, significant increase of the lactate peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) was observed. Also, the quantified $K_p$ value from the dynamic curves were more accurate in the case of the proposed acquisition method compared to the conventional non-selective excitation scheme. In vitro experiment results were in good agreement with the simulation results, also displaying increased PSNR for lactate. Fitting results using the modified two-site exchange model also showed expected results in agreement with the simulations. Conclusion: A method for accurate quantification of hyperpolarized pyruvate and the downstream product focused on in vitro experiment was described. By using a narrow-band RF excitation pulse with alternating acquisition, different resonances were selectively excited with a different flip angle for increased PSNR while the hyperpolarized magnetization of the substrate can be minimally perturbed with a low flip angle. Baseline signals from neighboring resonances can be effectively suppressed to accurately quantify the metabolism kinetics.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.57-66
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• 2011

목적 : 0.35 Teslas의 저자장 자기공명영상 시스템에서 인체 조직의 물 성분 또는 지방 성분의 영상을 얻는데 있어서 주자장의 불균일도를 two-point Dixon 방법을 기반으로 보정하는 새로운 방법을 모색하였다. 대상 및 방법 : Two-point Dixon 방법을 사용하여 물과 지방의 위상이 동상일 때와 역상일 때의 영상들을 얻은 후 그 영상들로부터 위상과 크기의 위상 크기 결합 밀도 함수를 계산하고, 이를 통해 물과 지방의 영역을 분리하여 3차원 볼륨의 물 영역에서의 주자장의 불균일도 패턴을 분석하고 이를 반복적으로 보정하여 주자장의 불균일도를 개선하였다. 결과 : 제안한 영상 기법으로 인체의 여러 부위에서 주자장의 불균일도를 보정한 물과 지방 영상을 얻을 수 있었다. 삼차원 보정을 통하여 멀티 슬라이스 전체 영상에서 균일하게 물 또는 지방만의 영상을 얻을 수 있었다. 결론 : 위상-크기 결합 밀도 함수를 통하여 물과 지방의 영역을 분리할 수 있었고, 이를 이용하여 자장의 불균일도를 분석하고 보정할 수 있었다. 제안한 방법을 통해 주자장의 불균일도가 월등히 개선된 물 또는 지방 영상을 얻을 수 있었다.