Biomedical subjects

Charles A Mistretta

Publications and source records attributed to Charles A Mistretta.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Dynamic MR venography: an intrinsic benefit of time-resolved MR angiography.

PURPOSE: To investigate the possibility of obtaining dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance venography (DCE-MRV) images of the lower extremities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Peripheral contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA) was performed on 20 patients using a time-resolved sequence that combined undersampled projection reconstruction (PR) in-plane and Cartesian slice encoding through-plane. The contrast dynamics of distal vessels were depicted. An automated segmentation algorithm based on a contrast arrival time (CAT) threshold was used to generate contrast dynamics in the venous system. The signal difference between the vein and artery was measured to evaluate the effectiveness of this technique in isolating the venous contrast dynamics. RESULTS: The automatically generated image series depicted the contrast dynamics of both the arterial and venous systems, including asymmetric venous enhancement and background tissue enhancement. Quantitative measurement showed a mean venous/arterial signal ratio increase from 1.58 to 4.82 for the peak venous frame after arterial signal suppression. CONCLUSION: DCE-MRV is a minimally invasive technique for evaluating the venous side of the systemic vascular anatomy. Time-resolved MRA has the potential clinical benefit of enabling both arterial and venous disease to be detected in patients undergoing CE-MRA.

Contrast Media↗

PubMed2005

Time-resolved undersampled projection reconstruction magnetic resonance imaging of the peripheral vessels using multi-echo acquisition.

The hybrid projection reconstruction (PR) imaging provides high temporal resolution through an undersampled PR acquisition for the in-plane dimensions and Cartesian slice encoding for the through-plane dimension. The undersampling of projection data introduces streak artifact, which may severely compromise image quality. This study reports on a combination of multi-echo acquisition with time-resolved undersampled PR imaging and its application to peripheral magnetic resonance angiography. Multi-echo acquisition improved imaging speed effectively, thereby reducing the undersampling streak artifact and improving the temporal resolution. The gradient distortion was reduced through gradient calibration and accurate k-space trajectory measurement.

Artifacts↗

PubMed2005

A novel extension of the parallel-beam projection-slice theorem to divergent fan-beam and cone-beam projections.

The general goal of this paper is to extend the parallel-beam projection-slice theorem to divergent fan-beam and cone-beam projections without rebinning the divergent fan-beam and cone-beam projections into parallel-beam projections directly. The basic idea is to establish a novel link between the local Fourier transform of the projection data and the Fourier transform of the image object. Analogous to the two- and three-dimensional parallel-beam cases, the measured projection data are backprojected along the projection direction and then a local Fourier transform is taken for the backprojected data array. However, due to the loss of the shift invariance of the image object in a single view of the divergent-beam projections, the measured projection data is weighted by a distance dependent weight w(r) before the local Fourier transform is performed. The variable r in the weighting function w(r) is the distance from the backprojected point to the x-ray source position. It is shown that a special choice of the weighting function, w(r)=1/r, will facilitate the calculations and a simple relation can be established between the Fourier transform of the image function and the local Fourier transform of the 1/r-weighted backprojection data array. Unlike the parallel-beam cases, a one-to-one correspondence does not exist for a local Fourier transform of the backprojected data array and a single line in the two-dimensional (2D) case or a single slice in the 3D case of the Fourier transform of the image function. However, the Fourier space of the image object can be built up after the local Fourier transforms of the 1/r-weighted backprojection data arrays are shifted and then summed in a laboratory frame. Thus the established relations Eq. (27) and Eq. (29) between the Fourier space of the image object and the Fourier transforms of the backprojected data arrays can be viewed as a generalized projection-slice theorem for divergent fan-beam and cone-beam projections. Once the Fourier space of the image function is built up, an inverse Fourier transform could be performed to reconstruct tomographic images from the divergent beam projections. Due to the linearity of the Fourier transform, an image reconstruction step can be performed either when the complete Fourier space is available or in parallel with the building of the Fourier space. Numerical simulations are performed to verify the generalized projection-slice theorem by using a disc phantom in the fan-beam case.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2005

PC VIPR: a high-speed 3D phase-contrast method for flow quantification and high-resolution angiography.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Three-dimensional phase-contrast (3DPC) is limited by long imaging times, limited coverage, flow artifacts, and the need to perform multiple additional 2D examinations (2DPC) to measure flow. A highly undersampled 3D radial acquisition (isotropic-voxel radial projection imaging [PCVIPR]) makes it possible to increase the product of volume coverage and spatial resolution by a factor of 30 for the same imaging time as conventional Cartesian 3DPC. This provides anatomic information over a large volume with high isotropic resolution and permits retrospective measurement of average flow rates throughout the volume. METHODS: PCVIPR acquires a reference and three flow-encoded acquisitions for each VIPR projection. Complex difference images were formed by combining information from all flow directions. Following retrospective definition of planes perpendicular to selected vessels, volume flow rates were determined by using phase-difference information. The accuracy of average flow measurement was investigated in a phantom and in six volunteers. Anatomic PCVIPR images acquired in three patients and three volunteers by using a 384(3) matrix were compared with conventional Cartesian 3DPC. RESULTS: The flow validation produced R2 = 0.99 in vitro and R2 = 0.97 in vivo. PCVIPR produced minimal streak and pulsatile flow artifacts. PCVIPR produced far higher resolution and volume coverage in comparable imaging times. The highest acceleration factors relative to 3DPC were achieved by using gadolinium-contrast material. Ultimately, acceleration factors are limited by signal-to-noise ratio. CONCLUSION: PCVIPR rapidly provides isotropic high-resolution angiographic images and permits retrospective measurement of average flow rate throughout the volume without the need to prescribe multiple 2D acquisition planes.

Adult↗

PubMed2004

Noise reduction in MR angiography with nonlinear anisotropic filtering.

PURPOSE: To evaluate three-dimensional nonlinear anisotropic filtering in suppressing image noise in high spatial resolution magnetic resonance angiograms (MRA) acquired with hybrid undersampled projection reconstruction and phase contrast vastly undersampled isotropic projection reconstruction (PC-VIPR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Three-dimensional nonlinear anisotropic filtering was quantitatively analyzed and evaluated through the measurement of contrast to noise ratio (CNR) in PC-VIPR images and contrast enhanced peripheral MRA images. To filter MRA images with ultra-high spatial resolution and poor CNR, a spatial frequency dependent nonlinear anisotropic filtering algorithm was proposed that uses two-step processing to filter the whole spatial frequency data. RESULTS: Three-dimensional nonlinear anisotropic filtering was shown to be effective in suppressing noise and improving CNR in MRA with isotropic spatial resolution. Higher CNR was achieved using spatial frequency dependent nonlinear anisotropic filtering. A typical CNR gain of between 50-100% was shown in our studies. CONCLUSION: Three-dimensional nonlinear anisotropic filtering significantly improved CNR in MRA images with isotropic spatial resolution. Spatial frequency dependent nonlinear anisotropic filtering further improved CNR for MRA images with ultra-high spatial resolution and low CNR.

Anisotropy↗

PubMed2004

Contrast-enhanced peripheral magnetic resonance angiography using time-resolved vastly undersampled isotropic projection reconstruction.

PURPOSE: To investigate the application of time-resolved vastly undersampled isotropic projection reconstruction (VIPR) in contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography of the distal extremity (single station), and peripheral run-off vasculature in the abdomen, thigh, and calf (three stations). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Time-resolved distal extremity imaging was performed using VIPR sequence through the comparison of two acquisition matrix sizes: 256 with TR/TE=3.7/1.4 msec and 320 with TR/TE=4.5/1.8 msec under the same scan time of two minutes. VIPR acquisition was combined with a bolus-chase technique to image the peripheral run-off vasculature. The time-resolved images were reconstructed using a revised sliding window reconstruction filter whose temporal aperture remained narrow for low spatial frequencies and increased quadratically to include all the projection data for high spatial frequencies. RESULTS: The new temporal filter significantly suppressed the undersampling streak artifacts and venous contamination, while maintaining a high temporal resolution. Both high spatial resolution (ranging from 1.56 x 1.56 x 1.56 mm to 1.25 x 1.25 x 1.25 mm) and high temporal resolution (three seconds per frame) distal extremity images and peripheral run-off images were generated using time-resolved VIPR acquisition, which provides isotropic spatial resolution and isotropic coverage. CONCLUSION: Time-resolved VIPR acquisition was demonstrated to be well suited for distal extremity imaging by providing isotropic spatial resolution, isotropic coverage, and high temporal resolution. The combination of time-resolved VIPR and bolus chase technique provided a novel approach for peripheral run-off examinations.

Abdomen↗

PubMed2004

Floating table isotropic projection (FLIPR) acquisition: a time-resolved 3D method for extended field-of-view MRI during continuous table motion.

In this work, 3D vastly undersampled isotropic projection (VIPR) acquisition is used simultaneously with continuous table motion to extend the superior/inferior (S/I) FOV for MR angiograms. The new technique is termed floating table isotropic PR (FLIPR). The use of 3D PR in conjunction with table motion obviates the need to locate and prescribe imaging volumes containing the major blood vessels over the large superior-inferior (S/I) ranges encountered in whole-body imaging. In addition, the FLIPR technique provides extended anterior-posterior (A/P) abdominal coverage, isotropic spatial resolution, and temporal resolution. In volunteer studies, FLIPR MR angiograms with 1.6-mm isotropic spatial resolution that approached whole body in extent were acquired in less than 2 min.

Contrast Media↗

PubMed2002

Combined time-resolved and high-spatial-resolution 3D MRA using an extended adaptive acquisition.

PURPOSE: To combine the benefits of time-resolved dynamic imaging and single elliptical centric acquisitions in a reasonable scan time. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A time series of images with moderate spatial resolution was acquired using the 3D Time-Resolved Imaging of Contrast KineticS (3D TRICKS) technique with elliptical centric encoding during contrast arrival. Following venous opacification, a complete large centrically encoded k-space volume was acquired. The high-spatial-frequency portions of this volume were combined with a 3D TRICKS time frame to form a high-resolution image. An additional single image is formed by suppressing background and signal averaging all acquired data, including post-venous low-spatial-frequency data. For this image, 2D temporal correlation analysis is used to suppress low-spatial-frequency vein contributions. Arrival time and spatial correlations are used to suppress background. RESULTS: The 3D TRICKS time frame may be selected to ensure a combined high-resolution image that has optimal central k-space sampling for any vascular region. The single image formed by signal averaging all acquired data has increased contrast-to-noise (CNR) and signal-to-noise (SNR) ratios. CONCLUSION: The advantages of time-resolved and high-spatial-resolution imaging were combined using an extended dual-phase acquisition. Some SNR and CNR gain was achieved by signal averaging. This process is facilitated by background and vein suppression.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Time-resolved contrast-enhanced imaging with isotropic resolution and broad coverage using an undersampled 3D projection trajectory.

Time-resolved contrast-enhanced 3D MR angiography (MRA) methods have gained in popularity but are still limited by the tradeoff between spatial and temporal resolution. A method is presented that greatly reduces this tradeoff by employing undersampled 3D projection reconstruction trajectories. The variable density k-space sampling intrinsic to this sequence is combined with temporal k-space interpolation to provide time frames as short as 4 s. This time resolution reduces the need for exact contrast timing while also providing dynamic information. Spatial resolution is determined primarily by the projection readout resolution and is thus isotropic across the FOV, which is also isotropic. Although undersampling the outer regions of k-space introduces aliased energy into the image, which may compromise resolution, this is not a limiting factor in high-contrast applications such as MRA. Results from phantom and volunteer studies are presented demonstrating isotropic resolution, broad coverage with an isotropic field of view (FOV), minimal projection reconstruction artifacts, and temporal information. In one application, a single breath-hold exam covering the entire pulmonary vasculature generates high-resolution, isotropic imaging volumes depicting the bolus passage.

Abdomen↗

PubMed2002

Time-resolved three-dimensional contrast-enhanced MR angiography of the peripheral vessels.

PURPOSE: To compare the diagnostic accuracy of time-resolved three-dimensional contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) angiography with that of conventional angiography for imaging the lower extremity vasculature. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-nine patients who were evaluated for possible surgical intervention underwent conventional angiography (ie, digital subtraction angiography [DSA]) and contrast-enhanced MR angiography (ie, time-resolved imaging of contrast kinetics [TRICKS]). Two independent, blinded readers evaluated vessel stenosis and occlusion at DSA and MR angiographic image readings. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve were analyzed with repeated-measures analysis of variance. The Cohen kappa test was performed to examine interreader variability. RESULTS: At pooled readings, contrast-enhanced MR angiography had a sensitivity of 78% and a specificity of 98% for detection of occlusion. For detection of significant stenosis (at least one > or = 50% stenosis), sensitivity and specificity were 77% and 91%, respectively. Interreader agreement was high for detection of both occlusion (kappa = 0.76) and significant stenosis (kappa = 0.68). Sensitivity increased as MR angiographic technical parameters were optimized. When improvements resulting from coil type and injection protocol were considered, the sensitivity and specificity of TRICKS MR angiography were 89% and 97%, respectively, for occlusion detection and 87% and 90%, respectively, for significant stenosis detection. CONCLUSION: Contrast-enhanced TRICKS MR angiography is a feasible and minimally invasive means of acquiring angiograms of the peripheral vasculature with high sensitivity and specificity.

Adult↗