Marcin Jankiewicz

Quantitative magnetization transfer imaging of human brain at 7 T

Quantitative magnetization transfer (qMT) imaging yields indices describing the interactions between free water protons and immobile macromolecular protons. These indices include the macromolecular to free pool size ratio (PSR), which has been shown to be correlated with myelin content in white matter. Because of the long scan times required for whole-brain imaging (≈20-30 min), qMT studies of the human brain have not found widespread application. Herein, we investigated whether the increased signal-to-noise ratio available at 7.0 T could be used to reduce qMT scan times. More specifically, we developed a selective inversion recovery (SIR) qMT imaging protocol with a i) novel transmit radiofrequency (B(1)(+)) and static field (B(0)) insensitive inversion pulse, ii) turbo field-echo readout, and iii) reduced TR. In vivo qMT data were obtained in the brains of healthy volunteers at 7.0 T using the resulting protocol (scan time≈40 s/slice, resolution=2 × 2 × 3 mm(3)). Reliability was also assessed in repeated acquisitions. The results of this study demonstrate that SIR qMT imaging can be reliably performed within the radiofrequency power restrictions present at 7.0 T, even in the presence of large B(1)(+) and B(0) inhomogeneities. Consistent with qMT studies at lower field strengths, the observed PSR values were higher in white matter (mean±SD=17.6 ± 1.3%) relative to gray matter (10.3 ± 1.6%) at 7.0 T. In addition, regional variations in PSR were observed in white matter. Together, these results suggest that qMT measurements are feasible at 7.0 T and may eventually allow for the high-resolution assessment of changes in composition throughout the normal and diseased human brain in vivo.

Composite RF pulses for B1+-insensitive volume excitation at 7 Tesla

A new class of composite RF pulses that perform well in the presence of specific ranges of B0 and B1+ inhomogeneities has been designed for volume (non-selective) excitation in MRI. The pulses consist of numerous (approximately 100) short (approximately 10 micros) block-shaped sub-pulses each with different phases and amplitudes derived from numerical optimization. Optimized pulses are designed to be effective over a specific range of frequency offsets and transmit field variations and are thus implementable regardless of field strength, transmit coil configuration, or the subject-specific spatial distribution of the static and RF fields. In the context of 7 T human brain imaging, both simulations and phantom experiments indicate that optimized pulses result in similar on-resonance flip-angle uniformity as BIR-4 pulses but with the advantages of superior off-resonance stability and significantly reduced average power. The pulse design techniques presented here are thus well-suited for practical application in ultra-high field human MRI.

Evaluation of non-selective refocusing pulses for 7 T MRI

There is a continuing need for improved RF pulses that achieve proper refocusing in the context of ultra-high field (≥ 7 T) human MRI. Simple block or sinc pulses are highly susceptible to RF field inhomogeneities, and adiabatic pulses are generally considered too SAR intensive for practical use at 7 T. The performance of the array of pulses falling between these extremes, however, has not been systematically evaluated. The aim of this work was to compare the performances of 21 non-selective refocusing pulses spanning a range of durations and SAR levels. The evaluation was based upon simulations and both phantom and in vivo human brain experiments conducted at 7 T. Tested refocusing designs included block, composite block, BIR-4, hyperbolic secant, and numerically optimized composite waveforms. These pulses were divided into three SAR classes and two duration categories, and, based on signal gain in a 3-D spin echo sequence, practical recommendations on usage are made within each category. All evaluated pulses were found to produce greater volume-averaged signals relative to a 180° block pulse. Although signal gains often come with the price of increased SAR or duration, some pulses were found to result in significant signal enhancement while also adhering to practical constraints. This work demonstrates the signal gains and losses realizable with single-channel refocusing pulse designs and should assist in the selection of suitable refocusing pulses for practical 3-D spin-echo imaging at 7 T. It further establishes a reference against which future pulses and multi-channel designs can be compared.

Practical Considerations for the Design of Sparse-Spokes Pulses

Sparse-spokes pulses are 2D slice-selective pulses that effectively mitigate inhomogeneities in the transmitted RF field and reduce unwanted RF artifacts in MR images. Here we consider the practical design of such pulses for high-field MRI and demonstrate limitations of the technique. We analyze the performance of pulses considering input noise as well as other effects such as saturation and T2( *) relaxation. We discuss in detail the correspondence between the reduction of RF inhomogeneities and the fidelity of the input parameters, such as the transmit B1+ field map and combined phase of the main B0 field and eddy-currents. Results include simulations, utilizing 7 T field maps acquired in phantoms and in-vivo, as well as in-vivo experiments. The necessary performance of system hardware components to achieve significant improvements is described.

Improved encoding pulses for Bloch–Siegert B1+ mapping

A new family of optimized encoding pulses for Bloch-Siegert (BS) |B(1)(+)| mapping is introduced, as well as an algorithm to design them. The pulses are designed by numerical maximization of BS sequence sensitivity, subject to constraints that ensure low on-resonance excitation. The pulses are in all cases characterized by a constant envelope and U-shaped frequency sweep. They are validated in simulations, 7T in vivo experiments, and an experiment to measure their on-resonance excitation, and are compared to a Fermi pulse conventionally used in the BS method. The pulses are shown to produce larger phase shifts in a shorter time and with lower on-resonance excitation than the Fermi pulse, which results in lower SAR and improved |B(1)(+)| accuracy in areas of the body with large main field inhomogeneities.

Slice-selective excitation with -insensitive composite pulses

Spatially selective excitation pulses have been designed to produce uniform flip angles in the presence of the RF and static field inhomogeneities typically encountered in MRI studies of the human brain at 7 T. Pulse designs are based upon non-selective, composite pulses numerically optimized for the desired performance over prescribed ranges of field inhomogeneities. The non-selective pulses are subsequently transformed into spatially selective pulses with the same field-insensitive properties through modification of the spectral composition of the individual sub-pulses which are then executed in conjunction with an oscillating gradient waveform. An in-depth analysis of the performance of these RF pulses is presented in terms of total pulse durations, slice profiles, linearity of in-slice magnetization phase, sensitivity to RF and static field variations, and signal loss due to T(2) effects. Both simulations and measurements in phantoms and in the human brain are used to evaluate pulses with nominal flip angles of 45° and 90°. Target slice thickness in all cases is 2mm. Results indicate that the described class of field-insensitive RF pulses is capable of improving flip-angle uniformity in 7 T human brain imaging. There appears to be a subset of pulses with durations ≲10 ms for which non-linearities in the magnetization phase are minimal and signal loss due to T(2) decay is not prohibitive. Such pulses represent practical solutions for achieving uniform flip angles in the presence of the large field inhomogeneities common to high-field human imaging and help to better establish the performance limits of high-field imaging systems with single-channel transmission.

Space–time foam and cosmic-ray interactions

Abstract It has been proposed that propagation of cosmic-rays at extreme-energy may be sensitive to Lorentz-violating metric fluctuations (“foam”). We investigate the changes in interaction thresholds for cosmic-rays and gamma-rays interacting on the CMB and IR backgrounds, for a class of stochastic models of space–time foam. The strength of the foam is characterized by the factor ( E / M P ) a , where a is a phenomenological suppression parameter. We find that there exists a critical value of a (dependent on the particular reaction: a crit ∼3 for cosmic-rays, ∼1 for gamma-rays), below which the threshold energy can only be lowered, and above which the threshold energy may be raised, but at most by a factor of two. Thus, it does not appear possible in this class of models to extend cosmic-ray spectra significantly beyond their classical absorption energies. However, the lower thresholds resulting from foam may have signatures in the cosmic-ray spectrum. In the context of this foam model, we find that cosmic-ray energies cannot exceed the fundamental Planck scale, and so set a lower bound of 10 8 TeV for the scale of gravity. We also find that suppression of p→pπ 0 and γ→e − e + “decays” favors values a ≳ a crit . Finally, we comment on the apparent non-conservation of particle energy–momentum, and speculate on its re-emergence as dark energy in the foamy vacuum.

Highly-accelerated Bloch-Siegert |B1+| mapping using joint autocalibrated parallel image reconstruction

To reconstruct accurate single‐ and multichannel Bloch–Siegert transmit radiofrequency ( |B1+| ) field maps from highly accelerated data.

Long-Wavelength Modes of Cosmological Scalar Fields

We give a numerical analysis of long-wavelength modes in the WKB approximation of cosmological scalar fields coupled to gravity via {xi}{phi}{sup 2}R. Massless fields are coupled conformally at {xi}=1/6. Conformality can be preserved for fields of nonzero mass by shifting {xi}. We discuss implications for density perturbations.

Transformations among large c conformal field theories

Abstract We show that there is a set of transformations that relates all of the 24 dimensional even self-dual (Niemeier) lattices, and also leads to non-lattice objects some of which can perhaps be interpreted as a basis for the construction of holomorphic conformal field theory. In the second part of this paper, we extend our observations to higher-dimensional conformal field theories build on extremal partition functions, where we generate c = 24 k theories. We argue that there exists generalizations of the c = 24 models based on Niemeier lattices and of the non-Niemeier spin-1 theories. The extremal cases have spectra decomposable into the irreducible representations of the Fischer–Griess Monster. This additional symmetry leads us to conjecture that these extremal theories, as well as the higher-dimensional analogs of the group lattice bases Niemeiers, will eventually yield to a full construction of their associated CFTs. We observe interesting periodicities in the coefficients of extremal partition functions and characters of the extremal vertex operator algebras.