| 1. |
- Ambarki, Khalid, et al.
(författare)
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Evaluation of Automatic Measurement of the Intracranial Volume Based on Quantitative MR Imaging
- 2012
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Ingår i: American Journal of Neuroradiology. - : American Society of Neuroradiology. - 0195-6108 .- 1936-959X. ; 33:10, s. 1951-1956
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Brain size is commonly described in relation to ICV, whereby accurate assessment of this quantity is fundamental. Recently, an optimized MR sequence (QRAPMASTER) was developed for simultaneous quantification of T1, T2, and proton density. ICV can be measured automatically within minutes from QRAPMASTER outputs and a dedicated software, SyMRI. Automatic estimations of ICV were evaluated against the manual segmentation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 19 healthy subjects, manual segmentation of ICV was performed by 2 neuroradiologists (Obs1, Obs2) by using QBrain software and conventional T2-weighted images. The automatic segmentation from the QRAPMASTER output was performed by using SyMRI. Manual corrections of the automatic segmentation were performed (corrected-automatic) by Obs1 and Obs2, who were blinded from each other. Finally, the repeatability of the automatic method was evaluated in 6 additional healthy subjects, each having 6 repeated QRAPMASTER scans. The time required to measure ICV was recorded. RESULTS: No significant difference was found between reference and automatic (and corrected-automatic) ICV (P greater than .25). The mean difference between the reference and automatic measurement was -4.84 +/- 19.57 mL (or 0.31 +/- 1.35%). Mean differences between the reference and the corrected-automatic measurements were -0.47 +/- 17.95 mL (-0.01 +/- 1.24%) and -1.26 +/- 17.68 mL (-0.06 +/- 1.22%) for Obs1 and Obs2, respectively. The repeatability errors of the automatic and the corrected-automatic method were less than1%. The automatic method required 1 minute 11 seconds (SD = 12 seconds) of processing. Adding manual corrections required another 1 minute 32 seconds (SD = 38 seconds). CONCLUSIONS: Automatic and corrected-automatic quantification of ICV showed good agreement with the reference method. SyMRI software provided a fast and reproducible measure of ICV.
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| 2. |
- Blystad, Ida, et al.
(författare)
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Synthetic MRI of the brain in a clinical setting
- 2012
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Ingår i: Acta Radiologica. - : Sage Publications. - 0284-1851 .- 1600-0455. ; 53:10, s. 1158-1163
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND:Conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has relatively long scan times for routine examinations, and the signal intensity of the images is related to the specific MR scanner settings. Due to scanner imperfections and automatic optimizations, it is impossible to compare images in terms of absolute image intensity. Synthetic MRI, a method to generate conventional images based on MR quantification, potentially both decreases examination time and enables quantitative measurements.PURPOSE:To evaluate synthetic MRI of the brain in a clinical setting by assessment of the contrast, the contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR), and the diagnostic quality compared with conventional MR images.MATERIAL AND METHODS:Twenty-two patients had synthetic imaging added to their clinical MR examination. In each patient, 12 regions of interest were placed in the brain images to measure contrast and CNR. Furthermore, general image quality, probable diagnosis, and lesion conspicuity were investigated.RESULTS:Synthetic T1-weighted turbo spin echo and T2-weighted turbo spin echo images had higher contrast but also a higher level of noise, resulting in a similar CNR compared with conventional images. Synthetic T2-weighted FLAIR images had lower contrast and a higher level of noise, which led to a lower CNR. Synthetic images were generally assessed to be of inferior image quality, but agreed with the clinical diagnosis to the same extent as the conventional images. Lesion conspicuity was higher in the synthetic T1-weighted images, which also had a better agreement with the clinical diagnoses than the conventional T1-weighted images.CONCLUSION:Synthetic MR can potentially shorten the MR examination time. Even though the image quality is perceived to be inferior, synthetic images agreed with the clinical diagnosis to the same extent as the conventional images in this study.
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| 3. |
- Kumar, Neil M., et al.
(författare)
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Synthetic MRI of the Knee: Phantom Validation and Comparison with Conventional MRI
- 2018
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Ingår i: Radiology. - : RADIOLOGICAL SOC NORTH AMERICA. - 0033-8419 .- 1527-1315. ; 289:2, s. 465-477
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: To test the hypothesis that synthetic MRI of the knee generates accurate and repeatable quantitative maps and produces morphologic MR images with similar quality and detection rates of structural abnormalities than does conventional MRI. Materials and Methods: Data were collected prospectively between January 2017 and April 2018 and were retrospectively analyzed. An International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine-National Institute of Standards and Technology phantom was used to determine the accuracy of T1, T2, and proton density (PD) quantification. Statistical models were applied for correction. Fifty-four participants (24 men, 30 women; mean age, 40 years; range, 18-62 years) underwent synthetic and conventional 3-T MRI twice on the same day. Fifteen of 54 participants (28%) repeated the protocol within 9 days. The intra-and interday agreements of quantitative cartilage measurements were assessed. Contrast-to-noise (CNR) ratios, image quality, and structural abnormalities were assessed on corresponding synthetic and conventional images. Statistical analyses included the Wilcoxon test, chi(2) test, and Cohen Kappa. P values less than or equal to.01 were considered to indicate a statistically significant difference. Results: Synthetic MRI quantification of T1, T2, and PD values had an overall model-corrected error margin of 0.8%. The synthetic MRI interday repeatability of articular cartilage quantification had native and model-corrected error margins of 3.3% and 3.5%, respectively. The cartilage-to-fluid CNR and menisci-to-fluid CNR was higher on synthetic than conventional MR images (P amp;lt;= .001, respectively). Synthetic MRI improved short-tau inversion recovery fat suppression (P amp;lt; .01). Intermethod agreements of structural abnormalities were good (kappa, 0.621-0.739). Conclusion: Synthetic MRI of the knee is accurate for T1, T2, and proton density quantification, and simultaneously generated morphologic MR images have detection rates of structural abnormalities similar to those of conventional MR images, with similar acquisition time. (c) RSNA, 2018
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| 4. |
- Kvernby, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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Clinical feasibility of 3D-QALAS - Single breath-hold 3D myocardial T1 and T2-mapping
- 2017
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Ingår i: Magnetic Resonance Imaging. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC. - 0730-725X .- 1873-5894. ; 38, s. 13-20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: To investigate the in-vivo precision and clinical feasibility of 3D-QALAS- a novel method for simultaneous three-dimensional myocardial T1- and T2-mapping. Methods: Ten healthy subjects and 23 patients with different cardiac pathologies underwent cardiovascular 3 T MRI examinations including 3D-QALAS, MOLLI and T2-GraSE acquisitions. Precision was investigated in the healthy subjects between independent scans, between dependent scans and as standard deviation of consecutive scans. Clinical feasibility of 3D-QALAS was investigated for native and contrast enhanced myocardium in patients. Data were analyzed using mean value and 95% confidence interval, Pearson correlation, Paired t-tests, intraclass correlation and Bland-Altman analysis. Results: Average myocardial relaxation time values and SD from eight repeated acquisitions within the group of healthy subjects were 1178 +/- 18.5 ms (1.6%) for T1 with 3D-QALAS, 52.7 +/- 1.2 ms (23%) for T2 with 3D-QALAS, 1145 +/- 10.0 ms (0.9%) for Tl with MOLLI and 49.2 +/- 0.8 ms (1.6%) for T2 with GraSE. Myocardial Tl and T2 relaxation times obtained with 3D-QALAS correlated very well with reference methods; MOW for T1 (r = 0.994) and T2-GraSE for T2 (r = 0.818) in the 23 patients. Average native/post-contrast myocardial Tl values from the patients were 1166.2 ms/411.8 ms for 3D-QALAS and 1174.4 ms/438.9 ms for MOW. Average native myocardial T2 values from the patients were 53.2 ms for 3D-QAIAS and 54.4 ms for T2-GraSE. Conclusions: Repeated independent and dependent scans together with the intra-scan repeatability, demonstrated all a very good precision for the 3D-QALAS method in healthy volunteers. This study shows that 3D T1 and T2 mapping in the left ventricle is feasible in one breath hold for patients with different cardiac pathologies using 3D-QALAS. (C) 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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| 5. |
- Kvernby, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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Longitudinal Changes in Myocardial T-1 and T-2 Relaxation Times Related to Diffuse Myocardial Fibrosis in Aortic Stenosis; Before and After Aortic Valve Replacement
- 2018
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Ingår i: Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging. - : WILEY. - 1053-1807 .- 1522-2586. ; 48:3, s. 799-807
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Diffuse myocardial fibrosis is associated with adverse outcomes, although detection and quantification is challenging. Cardiac MR relaxation times mapping represents a promising imaging biomarker for diffuse myocardial fibrosis. Purpose: To investigate whether relaxation times can detect longitudinal changes in myocardial tissue composition associated with diffuse fibrosis in patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS) before and after aortic valve replacement (AVR). Study type: Prospective longitudinal study. Population/Subjects/Phantom/Specimen/Animal Model: Fifteen patients with severe AS. Field Strength/Sequence: 3T /3(3) 3(3) 5-MOLLI, T2-GraSE, and 3D-QALAS. Assessment: Patients underwent MR examinations at three timepoints: before AVR, as well as 3 and 12 months after AVR. Data from each patient was analyzed in 16 myocardial segments. Statistical Tests: The segment-wise T1 and T2 data were analyzed over time after surgery using linear mixed models for repeated measures analysis. Results: The results showed that T1 relaxation times were significantly (Pamp;lt; 0.05) shorter 3 and 12 months postoperative than preoperative and that the T2 relaxation times were significantly (Pamp;lt; 0.05) longer 3 and 12 months postoperative than preoperative for both 3D and 2D mapping methods. No significant changes were seen between 3 and 12 months postoperative for any of the methods (P50.06/0.19 for T1 with 3D-QALAS/MOLLI and P50.09/0.25 for T2 with 3DQALAS/ GraSE). Data Conclusion: We demonstrated that changes in myocardial relaxation times and thus tissue characteristics can be observed within 3 months after AVR surgery. The significant changes in relaxation times from preoperative examinations to the follow-up may be interpreted as a reduction of interstitial fibrosis in the left ventricular wall. Level of Evidence: 1 Technical Efficacy: Stage 3
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| 6. |
- Kvernby, Sofia, 1987-
(författare)
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Myocardial Tissue Characterization Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging
- 2018
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In cardiovascular disease, which is the most common cause of death in the world, early diagnosis is crucial for disease outcome. Diagnosis of cardiovascular disease can be challenging, though. Quantification of myocardial T1 and T2 relaxation times with MRI has demonstrated to be a promising method for characterizing myocardial tissue, but long measurement times have hampered clinical use. The overall aim of this doctoral thesis was to develop, validate and, in patient studies, evaluate a very fast three-dimensional method for simultaneous quantification of myocardial T1 and T2 relaxation times with whole coverage of the left ventricle.The 3D-QALAS method is presented in Paper I of this thesis. It is a method that simultaneous measures both T1 and T2 relaxation times in a three-dimensional volume of the heart. The method requires 15 heartbeats, to produce 13 short-axis slices of the left ventricle with voxelwise information of both T1 and T2 relaxation times. The 3D-QALAS method was validated in phantoms and in 10 healthy volunteers by comparing the method with reference methods and demonstrated good accuracy and robustness both in-vitro and in-vivo.In Paper II, the 3D-QALAS method was carefully validated in-vivo by investigating accuracy and precision in 10 healthy volunteers, while the clinical feasibility of the method was investigated in 23 patients with various cardiac pathologies. Repeated independent and dependent scans together with the intra-scan repeatability, demonstrated all a very good precision for the 3D-QALAS method in healthy volunteers.In Paper III and IV, the 3D-QALAS method was applied and evaluated in patient cohorts where the heart muscle alters over time. In Paper III, patients with severe aortic stenosis underwent MRI examinations with 3D-QALAS before, 3 months after and 12 months after aortic valve surgery. Changes in T1 and T2 were observed, which might be used as markers of myocardial changes with respect to edema and fibrosis, which may develop due to increased workload over a long period of time.In study IV, 3D-QALAS was used to investigate 10 breast cancer patients treated with radiation therapy prior to treatment, 2-3 weeks into treatment, and one and 6 months after completion of treatment, to investigate any changes in T1 and T2 and further if they can be correlated to unwanted irradiation of the heart during radiation therapy.
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| 7. |
- Kvernby, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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Simultaneous three-dimensional myocardial T1 and T2 mapping in one breath hold with 3D-QALAS
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1097-6647 .- 1532-429X. ; 16:102
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Quantification of the longitudinal- and transverse relaxation time in the myocardium has shown to provide important information in cardiac diagnostics. Methods for cardiac relaxation time mapping generally demand a long breath hold to measure either T1 or T2 in a single 2D slice. In this paper we present and evaluate a novel method for 3D interleaved T1 and T2 mapping of the whole left ventricular myocardium within a single breath hold of 15 heartbeats.METHODS: The 3D-QALAS (3D-quantification using an interleaved Look-Locker acquisition sequence with T2 preparation pulse) is based on a 3D spoiled Turbo Field Echo sequence using inversion recovery with interleaved T2 preparation. Quantification of both T1 and T2 in a volume of 13 slices with a resolution of 2.0x2.0x6.0 mm is obtained from five measurements by using simulations of the longitudinal magnetizations Mz. This acquisition scheme is repeated three times to sample k-space. The method was evaluated both in-vitro (validated against Inversion Recovery and Multi Echo) and in-vivo (validated against MOLLI and Dual Echo).RESULTS: In-vitro, a strong relation was found between 3D-QALAS and Inversion Recovery (R = 0.998; N = 10; p < 0.01) and between 3D-QALAS and Multi Echo (R = 0.996; N = 10; p < 0.01). The 3D-QALAS method showed no dependence on e.g. heart rate in the interval of 40-120 bpm. In healthy myocardium, the mean T1 value was 1083 ± 43 ms (mean ± SD) for 3D-QALAS and 1089 ± 54 ms for MOLLI, while the mean T2 value was 50.4 ± 3.6 ms 3D-QALAS and 50.3 ± 3.5 ms for Dual Echo. No significant difference in in-vivo relaxation times was found between 3D-QALAS and MOLLI (N = 10; p = 0.65) respectively 3D-QALAS and Dual Echo (N = 10; p = 0.925) for the ten healthy volunteers.CONCLUSIONS: The 3D-QALAS method has demonstrated good accuracy and intra-scan variability both in-vitro and in-vivo. It allows rapid acquisition and provides quantitative information of both T1 and T2 relaxation times in the same scan with full coverage of the left ventricle, enabling clinical application in a broader spectrum of cardiac disorders.
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| 8. |
- Warntjes, Marcel Jan Bertus, et al.
(författare)
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Improved Precision of Automatic Brain Volume Measurements in Patients with Clinically Isolated Syndrome and Multiple Sclerosis Using Edema Correction
- 2018
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Ingår i: American Journal of Neuroradiology. - : AMER SOC NEURORADIOLOGY. - 0195-6108 .- 1936-959X. ; 39:2, s. 296-302
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The presence of edema will result in increased brain volume, which may obscure progressing brain atrophy. Similarly, treatment-induced edema reduction may appear as accelerated brain tissue loss (pseudoatrophy). The purpose of this study was to correlate brain tissue properties to brain volume, to investigate the possibilities for edema correction and the resulting improvement of the precision of automated brain volume measurements. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A group of 38 patients with clinically isolated syndrome or newly diagnosed MS were imaged at inclusion and after 1, 2, and 4 years using an MR quantification sequence. Brain volume, relaxation rates (R-1 and R-2), and proton density were measured by automated software. RESULTS: The reduction of normalized brain volume with time after inclusion was 0.273%/year. The mean SDs were 0.508%, 0.526%, 0.454%, and 0.687% at baseline and 1, 2, and 4 years. Linear regression of the relative change of normalized brain volume and the relative change of R-1, R-2, and proton density showed slopes of -0.198 (P amp;lt; .001), 0.156 (P = .04), and 0.488 (P amp;lt; .001), respectively. After we applied the measured proton density as a correction factor, the mean SDs decreased to 24.2%, 4.8%, 33.3%, and 17.4%, respectively. The observed atrophy rate reduced from 0.273%/year to 0.238%/year. CONCLUSIONS: Correlations between volume and R-1, R-2, and proton density were observed in the brain, suggesting that a change of brain tissue properties can affect brain volume. Correction using these parameters decreased the variation of brain volume measurements and may have reduced the effect of pseudoatrophy.
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| 9. |
- Ziegler, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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Towards Automated Quantification of Vessel Wall Composition Using MRI
- 2020
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Ingår i: Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging. - : WILEY. - 1053-1807 .- 1522-2586. ; 52:3, s. 710-719
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background MRI can be used to generate fat fraction (FF) and R2* data, which have been previously shown to characterize the plaque compositional features lipid-rich necrotic core (LRNC) and intraplaque hemorrhage (IPH) in the carotid arteries (CAs). Previously, these data were extracted from CA plaques using time-consuming manual analyses. Purpose To design and demonstrate a method for segmenting the CA and extracting data describing the composition of the vessel wall. Study Type Prospective. Subjects 31 subjects from the Swedish CArdioPulmonary bioImage Study (SCAPIS). Field Strength/Sequences T-1-weighted (T1W) quadruple inversion recovery, contrast-enhanced MR angiography (CE-MRA), and 4-point Dixon data were acquired at 3T. Assessment The vessel lumen of the CA was automatically segmented using support vector machines (SVM) with CE-MRA data, and the vessel wall region was subsequently delineated. Automatically generated segmentations were quantitatively measured and three observers visually compared the segmentations to manual segmentations performed on T(1)w images. Dixon data were used to generate FF and R2* maps. Both manually and automatically generated segmentations of the CA and vessel wall were used to extract compositional data. Statistical Tests Two-tailedt-tests were used to examine differences between results generated using manual and automated analyses, and among different configurations of the automated method. Interobserver agreement was assessed with Fleiss kappa. Results Automated segmentation of the CA using SVM had a Dice score of 0.89 +/- 0.02 and true-positive ratio 0.93 +/- 0.03 when compared against ground truth, and median qualitative score of 4/5 when assessed visually by multiple observers. Vessel wall regions of 0.5 and 1 mm yielded compositional information similar to that gained from manual analyses. Using the 0.5 mm vessel wall region, the mean difference was 0.1 +/- 2.5% considering FF and 1.1 +/- 5.7[1/s] for R2*. Level of Evidence 1. Technical Efficacy Stage 1. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;52:710-719.
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| 10. |
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