Assessment of vocal fold mobility using dynamic magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound in healthy volunteers

Purpose: To verify the value of dynamic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) sequences, fast field echo (FFE), and balanced gradient echo (true fast imaging with steady-state free precession - TRUFI) in the evaluation of vocal fold mobility in healthy volunteers, against ultrasound examination (US) as the reference test. Material and methods: Vocal fold mobility in 35 healthy volunteers (age 20-59 years, 20 women and 15 men) with no history of laryngeal disorders and neck surgeries was determined by means of US and MRI during normal breathing and phonation of the "hiiii" sound. US images were used to determine the glottic angles. During MRI two dynamic sequences, fast field echo and balanced gradient echo, were applied to determine the minimum and maximum values of the glottic angles, along with the rima glottidis area, separately for the right and left compartments. Due to differences in larynx anatomy, the abovementioned parameters were analysed separately for women and men. Results: No significant differences were observed between the glottic angle values obtained during US and dynamic MRI (FFE and TRUFI sequences). Regardless of the dynamic MRI sequence used, a positive correlation was found between the maximum values of glottic angle and the rima glottidis area. This correlation was strong and statistically significant among men, but not in women. Conclusions: Dynamic MRI of vocal folds using FFE and TRUFI sequence is an accurate method for the objective evaluation of rima glottidis width

Impact of the media on health behaviour of young adults

Wprowadzenie. Dla większości ludzi na świecie media stanowią nieodłączną część życia codziennego. Stało się tak dzięki dynamicznemu rozwojowi technologii, która ułatwiła do nich dostęp przeciętnemu człowiekowi i sprawiła, iż są one ważnym źródłem pozyskiwania informacji użytecznych w życiu codziennym. Cel pracy. Celem pracy była ocena wpływu mass mediów na zachowania zdrowotne młodych osób dorosłych w zależności od wieku, płci i poziomu wykształcenia. Materiał i metoda. Badanie ankietowe zostało przeprowadzone w 2015 roku na terenie województwa łódzkiego. Zastosowaną metodą badawczą był sondaż wykonany przy pomocy kwestionariusza autorskiego. Anonimowa ankieta składała się z 54 pytań. Badaniem objęto 260 osób w przedziale wiekowym pomiędzy 18. a 35. rokiem życia, w większości studentów uczelni medycznych (N = 149), a także internautów (N = 89) oraz pracowników łódzkich szpitali (N = 22). Wyniki. Zgodnie z analizą 67,7% respondentów potwierdziło wpływ mediów na zachowanie zdrowotne (67,4% kobiet i 68,6% mężczyzn). Za pozytywnym wpływem opowiedziało się 34,2% badanych, zaś za negatywnym 6%, reszta nie miała zdania lub stwierdziła ich neutralność. Za najczęściej poszukiwane w mediach informacje dotyczące zdrowia, większość badanych wskazała informacje dotyczące leków i skutków ich przyjmowania, diet, diagnostyki oraz znaczenia różnych objawów chorób. Za najczęściej wykorzystywane media respondenci wskazali Internet (91%), następnie telewizję i czasopisma – po 42%. Mniej niż 12% wskazało książki, zaś radio i prasę codzienną – odpowiednio 7,3% i 6%. Wnioski. W opinii respondentów informacje przekazywane przez media mają wpływ na zachowania zdrowotne młodych osób dorosłych. Największy wpływ na poszerzanie wiedzy dotyczącej stosowania leków, diet, diagnostyki i symptomatologii chorób mają Internet, telewizja oraz czasopisma.Introduction. The media are part of everyday life for most people. This wide access to the general population has been enabled by the dynamic development of technology, and they now represent an important source of obtaining information useful in daily life. Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of mass media on the behaviour of young adults’ health, according to age, gender and level of education. Material and methods. The study was conducted in 2015 in Lodz province using a survey based on an author-designed questionnaire. The questionnaire itself was anonymous and consisted of 54 questions. The study included 260 people aged 18 – 35-years-old, mostly students of medical universities (N=149), and also Internet users (N=89) and employees of Lodz hospitals (N=22). Results. According to the analysis, 67.7% of respondents indicated that the media had an impact on health behaviour (67.4% of all women and 68.6% of men): 34.2% of respondents indicated a positive impact, 6% negative, with the remained declaring either no opinion or neutrality. The respondents indicated that most common media searches regarding information on health concerned information about drugs and the consequences of their use, diet, disease diagnosis, and the significance of various symptoms. The most commonly used media were the Internet (91%), followed by television and magazines (42% each). Around 12% used books, 7.3% radio and 6% daily newspapers. Conclusions. According to the respondents, the information provided by the media influenced the health behaviour of young adults. Of the media, the Internet, television and magazines have the largest influence on expanding knowledge regarding drugs, diet, disease diagnosis and symptomatology

Impact of the media on health behaviour of young adults

Wprowadzenie. Dla większości ludzi na świecie media stanowią nieodłączną część życia codziennego. Stało się tak dzięki dynamicznemu rozwojowi technologii, która ułatwiła do nich dostęp przeciętnemu człowiekowi i sprawiła, iż są one ważnym źródłem pozyskiwania informacji użytecznych w życiu codziennym. Cel pracy. Celem pracy była ocena wpływu mass mediów na zachowania zdrowotne młodych osób dorosłych w zależności od wieku, płci i poziomu wykształcenia. Materiał i metoda. Badanie ankietowe zostało przeprowadzone w 2015 roku na terenie województwa łódzkiego. Zastosowaną metodą badawczą był sondaż wykonany przy pomocy kwestionariusza autorskiego. Anonimowa ankieta składała się z 54 pytań. Badaniem objęto 260 osób w przedziale wiekowym pomiędzy 18. a 35. rokiem życia, w większości studentów uczelni medycznych (N = 149), a także internautów (N = 89) oraz pracowników łódzkich szpitali (N = 22). Wyniki. Zgodnie z analizą 67,7% respondentów potwierdziło wpływ mediów na zachowanie zdrowotne (67,4% kobiet i 68,6% mężczyzn). Za pozytywnym wpływem opowiedziało się 34,2% badanych, zaś za negatywnym 6%, reszta nie miała zdania lub stwierdziła ich neutralność. Za najczęściej poszukiwane w mediach informacje dotyczące zdrowia, większość badanych wskazała informacje dotyczące leków i skutków ich przyjmowania, diet, diagnostyki oraz znaczenia różnych objawów chorób. Za najczęściej wykorzystywane media respondenci wskazali Internet (91%), następnie telewizję i czasopisma – po 42%. Mniej niż 12% wskazało książki, zaś radio i prasę codzienną – odpowiednio 7,3% i 6%. Wnioski. W opinii respondentów informacje przekazywane przez media mają wpływ na zachowania zdrowotne młodych osób dorosłych. Największy wpływ na poszerzanie wiedzy dotyczącej stosowania leków, diet, diagnostyki i symptomatologii chorób mają Internet, telewizja oraz czasopisma.Introduction. The media are part of everyday life for most people. This wide access to the general population has been enabled by the dynamic development of technology, and they now represent an important source of obtaining information useful in daily life. Objective. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of mass media on the behaviour of young adults’ health, according to age, gender and level of education. Material and methods. The study was conducted in 2015 in Lodz province using a survey based on an author-designed questionnaire. The questionnaire itself was anonymous and consisted of 54 questions. The study included 260 people aged 18 – 35-years-old, mostly students of medical universities (N=149), and also Internet users (N=89) and employees of Lodz hospitals (N=22). Results. According to the analysis, 67.7% of respondents indicated that the media had an impact on health behaviour (67.4% of all women and 68.6% of men): 34.2% of respondents indicated a positive impact, 6% negative, with the remained declaring either no opinion or neutrality. The respondents indicated that most common media searches regarding information on health concerned information about drugs and the consequences of their use, diet, disease diagnosis, and the significance of various symptoms. The most commonly used media were the Internet (91%), followed by television and magazines (42% each). Around 12% used books, 7.3% radio and 6% daily newspapers. Conclusions. According to the respondents, the information provided by the media influenced the health behaviour of young adults. Of the media, the Internet, television and magazines have the largest influence on expanding knowledge regarding drugs, diet, disease diagnosis and symptomatology

Improving the Resolution and SNR of Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Images From a Low-Field Scanner

Spatial resolution, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and acquisition time are interconnected in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Trade-offs are made to keep the SNR at the acceptable level, maximizing the resolution, minimizing the acquisition time and maintaining radiologically useful images. In low-field MRI scanners and especially in diffusion imaging, these trade-offs are even more crucial due to a generally lower image quality. Image post-processing is necessary in such cases to improve image quality. In this work, we alleviate the challenges of low SNR in dMRI at low magnetic fields by performing super-resolution reconstruction (SRR). Our approach combines multiple low-resolution images acquired at different image slice rotations and employs a convolutional neural network to perform the SRR. Training is performed on noisy images. The network learns to extract and compose complementary image details into a super-resolution output image. Because of the properties of noise and the training process, the super-resolution images are less noisy than the directly acquired high-resolution ones, contain more high-resolution details than the input low-resolution images and the total acquisition time is decreased

Pre- and Postoperative Ultrasound and MRI Examinations in Assessing Vocal Folds in Patients with Goiter

Aim of the study: To determine the value of dynamic examinations ultrasound (US) and MRI in the 1.5T field in the assessment of the mobility of vocal folds (VF) in comparison to laryngoscopy in patients with thyroid gland resection. Materials and methods: A total of 44 patients with goiter, before and after thyroidectomy, were subjected to videolaryngoscopy and dynamic examinations of the vocal folds using ultrasound and the following MRI sequences: generic gradient echo (GRE) and true fast imaging with steady-state precession (TRUFI). The qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed, i.e., the angles of deviation from the midline of the vocal folds and the area of the right and left rima glottidis compartments. Results: The analysis of qualitative data showed that the results obtained by laryngoscopy, US and MRI are independent of the diagnostic method used in the group of patients pre and post thyroidectomy. Between the pre- and postoperative examinations in the group of paralyzed vocal folds, statistically significant differences were found in the minimum and maximum values of the angles for the MRI-GRE and MRI-TRUFI sequences and the maximum value of the angles in the US examination, but also in the maximum value of the area of the glottis compartments in both MRI-GRE and MRI-TRUFI dynamic sequences and the minimum value of the area in the sequence MRI-GRE. Statistically significant differences were found in both MRI sequences during phonation, both for the value of the angles and the area of the affected vocal folds. However, no statistically significant differences were found in the values of the angles or the areas in both vocal fold imaging methods without identified mobility abnormalities. Conclusions: Ultrasound and MRI examinations using dynamic sequences have a similar diagnostic value to laryngoscopy in the assessment of vocal fold paralysis in patients with goiter. The GRE sequence seems to be the most reliable one in determining vocal fold paralysis, and the most reliable parameter is the maximum area of the rima glottidis compartment. The inclusion of dynamic short sequences widely available in 1.5T scanners in standard neck examination protocols represents a novelty of the method and a promising diagnostic perspective in the diagnosis of vocal fold paralysis

Variation in the morphology of spinous processes in the cervical spine - An objective and parametric assessment based on CT study.

BACKGROUND:Typically, cervical vertebrae display bifid spinous processes. Nevertheless, this feature may vary both between subjects and even within the vertebrae of the same individual. Although such variation can be important in archaeological research, anthropological studies and forensic medicine, it has not so far been the subject of any detailed studies. MATERIAL AND METHODS:An analysis of 200 cervical spine CT examinations was performed. The morphology of the spinous process was evaluated, and new anthropometric parameters were selected to allow a more precise quantitative analysis of the degree of bifidity. RESULTS:The spinous process base (i.e. the part of the spinous process which was not bifid) was significantly longer in CII and CVII than in the other vertebrae. The spinous process branches (bifid elements) were significantly longer in CVI and CVII than in the other vertebrae. The angle between the branches was significantly sharper in CII and CVII than in CIII-CVI, on the right side, and CIII-CV, on the left side. On the right side, the branching coefficient (degree of branch development) was significantly higher for CII and significantly lower for CVI-CVII than for the other vertebrae. On the left side, the coefficient was significantly higher for CII and CIV, and significantly lower for CVI-CVII, compared to the other vertebrae. CONCLUSION:Our findings highlight new objective parameters of morphological variability in the spinous processes of the cervical spine. They can form the basis of a new detailed differentiation of vertebrae and can represent an independent determinant of anatomical variability in the cervical spine