Quantifying cortical bone free water using short echo time (STE-MRI) at 1.5 T

Purpose: The purpose of our study was to use Dual-TR STE-MR protocol as a clinical tool for cortical bone free water quantification at 1.5 T and validate it by comparing the obtained results (MR-derived results) with dehydration results. Methods: Human studies were compliant with HIPPA and were approved by the institutional review board. Short Echo Time (STE) MR imaging with different Repetition Times (TRs) was used for quantification of cortical bone free water T1 (T1free) and concentration (�free). The proposed strategy was compared with the dehydration technique in seven bovine cortical bone samples. The agreement between the two methods was quantified by using Bland and Altman analysis. Then we applied the technique on a cross-sectional population of thirty healthy volunteers (18F/12M) and examined the association of the biomarkers with age. Results: The mean values of �free for bovine cortical bone specimens were quantified as 4.37 and 5.34 by using STE-MR and dehydration techniques, respectively. The Bland and Altman analysis showed good agreement between the two methods along with the suggestion of 0.99 bias between them. Strong correlations were also reported between �free (r2 = 0.62) and T1free and age (r2 = 0.8). The reproducibility of the method, evaluated in eight subjects, yielded an intra-class correlation of 0.95. Conclusion: STE-MR imaging with dual-TR strategy is a clinical solution for quantifying cortical bone �free and T1free. © 2020 Elsevier Inc

Characterization of active and infiltrative tumorous subregions from normal tissue in brain gliomas using multiparametric MRI

Background: Targeted localized biopsies and treatments for diffuse gliomas rely on accurate identification of tissue subregions, for which current MRI techniques lack specificity. Purpose: To explore the complementary and competitive roles of a variety of conventional and quantitative MRI methods for distinguishing subregions of brain gliomas. Study Type: Prospective. Population: Fifty‐one tissue specimens were collected using image‐guided localized biopsy surgery from 10 patients with newly diagnosed gliomas. Field Strength/Sequence: Conventional and quantitative MR images consisting of pre‐ and postcontrast T1w, T2w, T2‐FLAIR, T2‐relaxometry, DWI, DTI, IVIM, and DSC‐MRI were acquired preoperatively at 3T. Assessment: Biopsy specimens were histopathologically attributed to glioma tissue subregion categories of active tumor (AT), infiltrative edema (IE), and normal tissue (NT) subregions. For each tissue sample, a feature vector comprising 15 MRI‐based parameters was derived from preoperative images and assessed by a machine learning algorithm to determine the best multiparametric feature combination for characterizing the tissue subregions. Statistical Tests: For discrimination of AT, IE, and NT subregions, a one‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test and for pairwise tissue subregion differentiation, Tukey honest significant difference, and Games‐Howell tests were applied (P < 0.05). Cross‐validated feature selection and classification methods were implemented for identification of accurate multiparametric MRI parameter combination. Results: After exclusion of 17 tissue specimens, 34 samples (AT = 6, IE = 20, and NT = 8) were considered for analysis. Highest accuracies and statistically significant differences for discrimination of IE from NT and AT from NT were observed for diffusion‐based parameters (AUCs >90%), and the perfusion‐derived parameter as the most accurate feature in distinguishing IE from AT. A combination of “CBV, MD, T2_ISO, FLAIR” parameters showed high diagnostic performance for identification of the three subregions (AUC ∼90%). Data Conclusion: Integration of a few quantitative along with conventional MRI parameters may provide a potential multiparametric imaging biomarker for predicting the histopathologically proven glioma tissue subregions

Velocity measurement in carotid artery: Quantitative comparison of time-resolved 3D phase-contrast MRI and image-based computational fluid dynamics

Background: Understanding hemodynamic environment in vessels is important for realizing the mechanisms leading to vascular pathologies. Objectives: Three-dimensional velocity vector field in carotid bifurcation is visualized using TR 3D phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (TR 3D PC MRI) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This study aimed to present a qualitative and quantitative comparison of the velocity vector field obtained by each technique. Subjects and Methods: MR imaging was performed on a 30-year old male normal subject. TR 3D PC MRI was performed on a 3 T scanner to measure velocity in carotid bifurcation. 3D anatomical model for CFD was created using images obtained from time-of-flight MR angiography. Velocity vector field in carotid bifurcation was predicted using CFD and PC MRI techniques. A statistical analysis was performed to assess the agreement between the two methods. Results: Although the main flow patterns were the same for the both techniques, CFD showed a greater resolution in mapping the secondary and circulating flows. Overall root mean square (RMS) errors for all the corresponding data points in PC MRI and CFD were 14.27% in peak systole and 12.91% in end diastole relative to maximum velocity measured at each cardiac phase. Bland-Altman plots showed a very good agreement between the two techniques. However, this study was not aimed to validate any of methods, instead, the consistency was assessed to accentuate the similarities and differences between Time-resolved PC MRI and CFD. Conclusion: Both techniques provided quantitatively consistent results of in vivo velocity vector fields in right internal carotid artery (RCA). PC MRI represented a good estimation of main flow patterns inside the vasculature, which seems to be acceptable for clinical use. However, limitations of each technique should be considered while interpreting results

Perceived barriers and enablers of physical activity in postpartum women: A qualitative approach

© 2016 Saligheh et al.Background: Postpartum women's recovery from birth can be assisted through increased physical activity (PA). However, women face substantial barriers to participating in exercise and require support to enable them to benefit from increased PA. Methods: This study sought to explore women's beliefs about and experiences of PA and exercise during the 6 weeks to 12 months postpartum period. A cohort of 14 postpartum women from a survey study of the barriers and enablers to exercise participation agreed to take part in interview sessions to provide an in-depth understanding of the women's perceptions of the postpartum period and their physical activity during this time. Results: Findings are presented with reference to the social ecological framework and indicate postpartum women face substantial personal and environmental barriers to PA and exercise participation: fatigue, a lack of motivation and confidence, substantial time constraints, lack of access to affordable and appropriate activities and poor access to public transport. In contrast, enablers such as possessing greater social support, in particular partner support, improved PA and exercise participation. Conclusions: The findings encourage facilitation of exercise through mothers' groups, mothers' exercise clubs or postnatal classes suggesting behavioral and social change is needed. Interaction between individuals, community, organizations and policy makers is required. In addition, the provision of specifically tailored and appropriate exercise programs could potentially enable increased PA in postpartum women, thereby improving their health

A hybrid (iron�fat�water) phantom for liver iron overload quantification in the presence of contaminating fat using magnetic resonance imaging

Objective: Assessment of iron content in the liver is crucial for diagnosis/treatment of iron-overload diseases. Nonetheless, T2*-based methods become challenging when fat and iron are simultaneously present. This study proposes a phantom design concomitantly containing various concentrations of iron and fat suitable for devising accurate simultaneous T2* and fat quantification technique. Materials and methods: A 46-vial iron�fat�water phantom with various iron concentrations covering clinically relevant T2* relaxation time values, from healthy to severely overloaded liver and wide fat percentages ranges from 0 to 100 was prepared. The phantom was constructed using insoluble iron (II, III) oxide powder containing microscale particles. T2*-weighted imaging using multi-gradient-echo (mGRE) sequence, and chemical shift imaging spin-echo (CSI-SE) Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) data were considered for the analysis. T2* relaxation times and fat fractions were extracted from the MR signals to explore the effects of fat and iron overload. Results: Size distribution of iron oxide particles for Magnetite fits with a lognormal function with a mean size of about 1.17 µm. Comparison of FF color maps, estimated from bi- and mono-exponential model indicated that single-T2* fitting model resulted in lower NRMSD. Therefore, T2* values from the mono-exponential signal equation were used and expressed the relationship between relaxation time value across all iron (Fe) and fat concentration as Fe=-28.02+302.84T2�-0.045FF, with R-squared = 0.89. Discussion: The proposed phantom design with microsphere iron particles closely simulated the single-T2* behavior of fatty iron-overloaded liver in vivo. © 2019, European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology (ESMRMB)

Extending the application of a magnetic PEG three-part drug release device on a graphene substrate for the removal of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria and cancerous and pathologic cells

M Ramezani Farani,1 P Khadive Parsi,1 Gh Riazi,2 M Shafiee Ardestani,3 H Saligeh Rad4,5 1School of Chemical Engineering, University College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran 4563-11155, Iran; 2Institute of Biophysics and Biochemistry, University of Tehran, Tehran 1417614411, Iran; 3Department of Radiopharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 4Quantitative Medical Imaging Systems Group, Research Center for Molecular and Cellular Imaging, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 5Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering Department, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Objective: In this study, novel graphene oxide (GO)-based nanocomposites are presented. In fact, we have tried to replace the carboxyl groups on the surface of GO with amine groups to allow the biocompatible poly(ethylene glycol) bis(carboxymethyl) ether (average Mn 600) polymer to bond through an amide bond. Materials and methods: The synthesis was conducted accurately according to final characterization experiments (Raman, X-ray diffraction [XRD], atomic force microscopy [AFM], X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy [XPS], thermogravimetric analysis [TGA], etc). The antimicrobial property of this nanocomposite was examined in Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) as Gram-negative and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) as Gram-positive bacterial species. Besides, curcumin (CUR) was added to the produced nanocomposite both as a promising anticancer drug and an antioxidant, the toxicity of which was then assessed on cellular-based HepG2 and pC12. Results: An intense increase in toxicity was detected by MTT assay. Conclusion: It can mainly be concluded that the nanocomposite synthesized in this study is capable of delivering drugs with antibacterial properties. Keywords: graphene oxide, magnetic nanocomposite, drug delivery, antimicrobial, curcumi

Liquid Calibration Phantoms in Ultra-Low-Dose QCT for the Assessment of Bone Mineral Density

Introduction: Cortical bone is affected by metabolic diseases. Some studies have shown that lower cortical bone mineral density (BMD) is related to increases in fracture risk which could be diagnosed by quantitative computed tomography (QCT). Nowadays, hybrid iterative reconstruction-based (HIR) computed tomography (CT) could be helpful to quantify the peripheral bone tissue. A key focus of this paper is to evaluate liquid calibration phantoms for BMD quantification in the tibia and under hybrid iterative reconstruction-based-CT with the different hydrogen dipotassium phosphate (K 2 HPO 4 ) concentrations phantoms. Methodology: Four ranges of concentrations of K 2 HPO 4 were made and tested with 2 exposure settings. Accuracy of the phantoms with ash gravimetry and intermediate K 2 HPO 4 concentration as hypothetical patients were evaluated. The correlations and mean differences between measured equivalent QCT BMD and ash density as a gold standard were calculated. Relative percentage error (RPE) in CT numbers of each concentration over a 6-mo period was reported. Results: The correlation values (R 2 was close to 1.0), suggested that the precision of QCT-BMD measurements using standard and ultra-low dose settings were similar for all phantoms. The mean differences between QCT-BMD and the ash density for low concentrations (about 93 mg/cm 3 ) were lower than high concentration phantoms with 135 and 234 mg/cm 3 biases. In regard to accuracy test for hypothetical patient, RPE was up to 16.1 for the low concentration (LC) phantom for the case of high mineral content. However, the lowest RPE (0.4 to 1.8) was obtained for the high concentration (HC) phantom, particularly for the high mineral content case. In addition, over 6 months, the K 2 HPO 4 concentrations increased 25 for 50 mg/cm 3 solution and 0.7 for 1300 mg/cm 3 solution in phantoms. Conclusion: The excellent linear correlations between the QCT equivalent density and the ash density gold standard indicate that QCT can be used with submilisivert radiation dose. We conclude that using liquid calibration phantoms with a range of mineral content similar to that being measured will minimize bias. Finally, we suggest performing BMD measurements with ultra-low dose scan concurrent with iterative-based reconstruction to reduce radiation exposure. © 2019 The International Society for Clinical Densitometr