| 1. |
- Brockstedt, Sara, et al.
(författare)
-
High-resolution diffusion imaging using phase-corrected segmented echo-planar imaging
- 2000
-
Ingår i: Magnetic Resonance Imaging. - 1873-5894. ; 18:6, s. 649-657
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed with a high-resolution segmented echo-planar imaging technique, which provided images with substantially less susceptibility artifacts than images obtained with single-shot echo-planar imaging (EPI). Diffusion imaging performed with any multishot pulse sequence is inherently sensitive to motion artifacts and in order to reduce motion artifacts, the presented method utilizes navigator echo phase corrections, performed after a one-dimensional Fourier transform along the frequency-encoding direction. Navigator echo phases were fitted to a straight line prior to phase correction to avoid errors from internal motion. In vivo imaging was performed using electro cardiographic (ECG) triggering. Apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps were calculated on a pixel-by-pixel basis using up to seven diffusion sensitivities, ranging from b = 0 to 1129 x 10(6) s/m(2).
|
|
| 2. |
- Brockstedt, Sara, et al.
(författare)
-
Quantitative diffusion coefficient maps using fast spin-echo MRI
- 1998
-
Ingår i: Magnetic Resonance Imaging. - 1873-5894. ; 16:8, s. 877-886
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this work, we have evaluated the performance of a diffusion-sensitive fast spin-echo (FSE) pulse sequence. The proposed pulse sequence utilises velocity-compensating diffusion-encoding gradients and includes the collection of navigator echoes. Spoiler gradients were inserted in the slice-selecting direction to minimise effects from stimulated echoes. Calculations of the b values showed that cross-terms between imaging gradients and diffusion gradients only led to a marginal increase of b values. Pixel-wise calculation of apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) maps was performed numerically, considering cross-terms between diffusion-encoding and imaging gradients. The sequences investigated used echo train lengths of 16, 8 and 4 echoes and were encoded in either the slice-, frequency- or phase-encoding direction. In order to allow for higher b values a pulse-sequence version using non-motion compensating diffusion-encoding gradients was written. Phantom measurements were performed and the diffusion coefficients of water and acetone were reasonable. Seven healthy volunteers (age 28-50 years) were examined and apparent diffusion coefficient values agreed well with expected values. Diffusion-weighted images, apparent diffusion coefficient maps and images corresponding to the trace of the diffusion tensor of good quality were retrieved in vivo.
|
|
| 3. |
- Brockstedt, Sara, et al.
(författare)
-
Triggering in quantitative diffusion imaging with single-shot EPI
- 1999
-
Ingår i: Acta Radiologica. - 1600-0455. ; 40:3, s. 263-269
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate any possible effects of brain motion, CSF pulsations and other possible sources of physiological motion in electrocardiographic (ECG) triggered and non-triggered single-shot echo-planar imaging (EPI) measurements of diffusion. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Three different triggering protocols were evaluated in 6 healthy volunteers: 1) ECG triggering with time delay (TD) 100 ms; 2) ECG triggering with TD 400 ms; and 3) no triggering at all. RESULTS: The results obtained showed that white matter mean apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were similar for all triggering protocols and that the reproducibility in ADC measurements using diffusion-weighted (DW) EPI was good. The average standard deviation of the ADC values was, however, higher for ADC maps obtained without ECG triggering. CONCLUSION: The use of prospective diastolic ECG triggering significantly improves the accuracy of quantitative diffusion measurements but for routine clinical diffusion imaging, where quantitative data is of less importance, the accuracy obtained without ECG triggering can be considered adequate.
|
|
| 4. |
- Brockstedt, Sara, et al.
(författare)
-
Use of an enhanced gradient system for diffusion MR imaging with motion-artifact reduction
- 1995
-
Ingår i: Acta Radiologica. - 1600-0455. ; 36:6, s. 662-670
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: A spin-echo diffusion-sensitized pulse sequence using high gradients (23 mT/m) is introduced. MATERIAL AND METHODS: In order to minimize motion artefacts, velocity-compensating gradients, ECG-triggering and post-processing with phase correction and raw data averaging using navigator echoes was performed. The in vitro ratio of diffusion coefficients for water and acetone was determined and the water self-diffusion coefficient at different temperatures was evaluated. The pulse sequence was tested in 7 healthy volunteers and in 2 tumour patients with astrocytomas of grades I-II and III-IV. Both single-slice and multi-slice techniques were used. RESULTS: The incorporation of phase correction clearly improved the quality of both diffusion-encoded images and the calculated diffusion maps. Mean values of the diffusion coefficients in vivo were for CSF 2.66 x 10(-9) m2/s and for white and grey matter 0.69 x 10(-9) m2/s and 0.87 x 10(-9) m2/s, respectively. CONCLUSION: Velocity-compensating gradients in combination with a high gradient strength were shown to be useful for in vivo diffusion MR imaging.
|
|
| 5. |
- Brockstedt, Sara, et al.
(författare)
-
Vertical field MR imaging of upper thorax and spine in small children. Evaluation of a new surface coil
- 1993
-
Ingår i: Acta Radiologica. - 1600-0455. ; 34:6, s. 549-553
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- To improve image quality in a vertical field MR imaging unit, operating at low field strength (0.3 T), we have designed a half-elliptical coil for use in the upper thoracic region of small children. Our intention was also to shorten the examination time, which until now has been long, because several scans with different coils have been necessary to cover the thoracic region. The experimental coil is designed so that a child's shoulders fit into the central region. The coil consists of 2 serially connected cable-loops, mounted on a foam rubber vest. The coil performance was tested in a phantom and improvements relative to standard coils were demonstrated in in vivo studies. The results indicate that by using the half-elliptical coil, the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio can be improved by a factor of 2 to 3 in the thoracic region of a child.
|
|
| 6. |
|
|
| 7. |
- Geijer, Bo, et al.
(författare)
-
Persistent high signal on diffusion-weighted MRI in the late stages of small cortical and lacunar ischaemic lesions
- 2001
-
Ingår i: Neuroradiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1432-1920 .- 0028-3940. ; 43:2, s. 115-122
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is very sensitive to early brain infarcts. However, the late stages have been insufficiently studied. Infarcts in small vessel disease are often multiple and of different ages, and differentiation between new and old lesions might be difficult. We have therefore studied the change with time in DWI of small (< 3 ml) ischaemic lesions. We imaged 21 patients with an acute lacunar syndrome and a lesion visible on early DWI. They all had three MRI examinations 12-58 h (early), 7-16 and 54-144 days after the onset of stroke; 10 patients with high DWI signal on the third examination had a fourth examination 12-28 months after the stroke. MRI was performed at 1.5 T, using echo-planar DWI with 7 b-values from 0 to 1200 x 10(6) s/m2 and conventional T2-weighted imaging. After 7-16 days 18 of 21 lesions gave high signal on DWI, and 12/16 measurable lesions had a decreased apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC). After 54-144 days ten lesions still gave high DWI signal and two still had an ADC below normal. On the fourth examination there was no remaining high DWI signal and all ADC were higher than normal.
|
|
| 8. |
- Geijer, Bo, et al.
(författare)
-
Radiological diagnosis of acute stroke. Comparison of conventional MR imaging, echo-planar diffusion-weighted imaging, and spin-echo diffusion-weighted imaging
- 1999
-
Ingår i: Acta Radiologica. - : SAGE Publications. - 1600-0455 .- 0284-1851. ; 40:3, s. 255-262
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- PURPOSE: To compare conventional MR imaging, echo-planar diffusion-weighted imaging (EP-DWI) and spin-echo diffusion-weighted imaging (SE)-DWI at radiological diagnosis of acute stroke. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-seven patients (30-85 years old) were examined. Clinical examination was performed before MR imaging. All MR examinations were assessed by an experienced neuroradiologist blinded to clinical findings. RESULTS: In EP-DWI, every patient had a lesion corresponding to the clinical findings. EP-DWI was used as the gold standard. In conventional PD+T2 imaging, 23/59 focal lesions were interpreted as acute, which was false in 11 lesions, and 36/59 lesions were considered to be old, 6 were in fact acute. Nine acute lesions were only detected retrospectively and 12 acute lesions were not detected at all on PD+T2. SE-DWI including the apparent diffusion coefficient correlated fairly well with EP-DWI but the procedure was impractical. CONCLUSION: EP-DWI is reliable for diagnosis of early ischemic stroke, while SE-DWI performs reasonably well. Conventional PD+T2 imaging is not reliable for diagnosis of early ischemia.
|
|
| 9. |
- Geijer, Bo, et al.
(författare)
-
The value of b required to avoid T2 shine-through from old lucunar infarcts in diffusion-weighted imaging
- 2001
-
Ingår i: Neuroradiology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1432-1920 .- 0028-3940. ; 43:7, s. 511-517
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Multiple small infarcts of different ages are common in small-vessel disease. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) is a powerful method for discriminating new from chronic lesions. This can be done on the diffusion-weighted images provided that b is sufficiently high. Our purpose was to determine that critical value of b. We reviewed DWI from a previous study of acute, mainly lacunar strokes, and selected 18 old lacunar infarcts, well defined on uncoded images with b 0 s/m2 (i. e., T2-weighted images) but invisible on DWI with b 1,200 x 10(6) s/m2. We used a 1.5 tesla imager and single-shot echo-planar technique. We had seven separate acquisitions with echo time 123 ms and b in steps between 0 and 1,200 x 10(6) s/m2. Two neuroradiologists blinded to the selection of lesions carried out two different lesion-detection procedures, thereby testing each lesion four times, giving a total of 72 tests of b values. The results were consistent, indicating a level for detection of 800 x 10(6) s/m2 in two tests, 400-600 x 10(6) s/m2 in 65 tests and at lower values in the remainder. For imagers up to 1.5 tesla, at long repetition times and an echo time up to 120 ms T2-shine through of old lacunar infarcts can be avoided using b of 1,000 x 10(6) s/m2.
|
|
| 10. |
- Lindgren, Arne, et al.
(författare)
-
Clinical lacunar syndromes as predictors of lacunar infarcts. A comparison of acute clinical lacunar syndromes and findings on diffusion-weighted MRI
- 2000
-
Ingår i: Acta Neurologica Scandinavica. - : Hindawi Limited. - 1600-0404 .- 0001-6314. ; 101:2, s. 128-134
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: To evaluate if patients with acute lacunar syndromes have acute lacunar infarcts or other types of cerebral lesions on diffusion-weighted MRI. METHODS: Patients with acute lacunar syndromes underwent echo-planar diffusion MRI of the brain within 3 days after stroke onset. Localization and size of lesions with hyperintense signal were determined, compared with clinical characteristics and with findings on follow-up T2-weighted MRI. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients participated in the study. Thirteen patients had pure motor stroke, 1 pure sensory stroke, 8 sensorimotor stroke, and 1 ataxic hemiparesis. Twenty-two patients had at least one lesion with increased signal on diffusion-weighted MR images. These acute lesions were in the internal capsule/ basal ganglia/thalamus in 13 patients, subcortical white matter in 5 patients, brainstem in 2 patients, cortex (multiple small lesions) in 1 patient, and cortex + basal ganglia in 1 patient. The median volume of the lesions was 0.6 ml on the initial examination and on follow-up, of 17 patients after 1 to 5 months, 0.5 ml. CONCLUSIONS: Almost all patients with acute ischemic lacunar syndromes have acute lesions on echo-planar diffusion-weighted MRI within 3 days after stroke onset. These lesions are mostly small and subcortical, compatible with lacunar infarcts caused by single penetrating artery occlusion, but in a minor proportion of patients (2 of 23 in our study) a cortical involvement is found.
|
|
