Refaat E. Gabr

On Restoring Motion-Induced Signal Loss in Single-Voxel Magnetic Resonance Spectra

Destructive interference from phase fluctuations caused by motion during 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) stimulated‐echo acquisition mode (STEAM) and point‐resolved spectroscopy (PRESS) acquisitions can significantly diminish the traditional √N‐gain in signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) afforded by averaging N signals, especially in the torso. The SNR loss is highly variable among individuals, even when identical acquisition protocols are used. This paper presents a theory for the SNR loss, assuming that the phase fluctuates randomly. It is shown that SNR in conventional averaging is reduced by the factor sinc(σϕ√3/π), where σϕ is the standard deviation (SD) of the phase. “Constructive averaging,” whereby each individual acquisition is phase‐corrected using the phase of a high‐SNR peak before averaging, reverses the SNR loss from motion‐induced dephasing, resulting in a {1/sinc(σϕ√3/π)}‐fold SNR improvement. It is also shown that basing phase corrections on an average of √N adjacent points both improves correction accuracy and effectively eliminates false signal artifacts when corrections are based on low‐SNR peaks. The theory is validated over a sevenfold range of variation in signal loss due to motion observed in 1H STEAM and PRESS data acquired from 17 human subjects (heart: N = 16; leg: N = 1). Constructive averaging should be incorporated as a routine tool for in vivo 1H MRS. Magn Reson Med, 2006.

High-energy phosphate transfer in human muscle: diffusion of phosphocreatine

The creatine kinase (CK) reaction is central to muscle energetics, buffering ATP levels during periods of intense activity via consumption of phosphocreatine (PCr). PCr is believed to serve as a spatial shuttle of high-energy phosphate between sites of energy production in the mitochondria and sites of energy utilization in the myofibrils via diffusion. Knowledge of the diffusion coefficient of PCr (D(PCr)) is thus critical for modeling and understanding energy transport in the myocyte, but D(PCr) has not been measured in humans. Using localized phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we measured D(PCr) in the calf muscle of 11 adults as a function of direction and diffusion time. The results show that the diffusion of PCr is anisotropic, with significantly higher diffusion along the muscle fibers, and that the diffusion of PCr is restricted to a ∼28-μm pathlength assuming a cylindrical model, with an unbounded diffusion coefficient of ∼0.69 × 10(-3) mm(2)/s. This distance is comparable in size to the myofiber radius. On the basis of prior measures of CK reaction kinetics in human muscle, the expected diffusion distance of PCr during its half-life in the CK reaction is ∼66 μm. This distance is much greater than the average distances between mitochondria and myofibrils. Thus these first measurements of PCr diffusion in human muscle in vivo support the view that PCr diffusion is not a factor limiting high-energy phosphate transport between the mitochondria and the myofibrils in healthy resting myocytes.

Magnetic resonance Spectroscopy with Linear Algebraic Modeling (SLAM) for higher speed and sensitivity.

Speed and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) are critical for localized magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) of low-concentration metabolites. Matching voxels to anatomical compartments a priori yields better SNR than the spectra created by summing signals from constituent chemical-shift-imaging (CSI) voxels post-acquisition. Here, a new method of localized Spectroscopy using Linear Algebraic Modeling (SLAM) is presented, that can realize this additional SNR gain. Unlike prior methods, SLAM generates spectra from C signal-generating anatomic compartments utilizing a CSI sequence wherein essentially only the C central k-space phase-encoding gradient steps with highest SNR are retained. After MRI-based compartment segmentation, the spectra are reconstructed by solving a sub-set of linear simultaneous equations from the standard CSI algorithm. SLAM is demonstrated with one-dimensional CSI surface coil phosphorus MRS in phantoms, the human leg and the heart on a 3T clinical scanner. Its SNR performance, accuracy, sensitivity to registration errors and inhomogeneity, are evaluated. Compared to one-dimensional CSI, SLAM yielded quantitatively the same results 4-times faster in 24 cardiac patients and healthy subjects. SLAM is further extended with fractional phase-encoding gradients that optimize SNR and/or minimize both inter- and intra-compartmental contamination. In proactive cardiac phosphorus MRS of six healthy subjects, both SLAM and fractional-SLAM (fSLAM) produced results indistinguishable from CSI while preserving SNR gains of 36-45% in the same scan-time. Both SLAM and fSLAM are simple to implement and reduce the minimum scan-time for CSI, which otherwise limits the translation of higher SNR achievable at higher field strengths to faster scanning.

Deconvolution-interpolation gridding (DING): Accurate reconstruction for arbitrary k-space trajectories

A simple iterative algorithm, termed deconvolution‐interpolation gridding (DING), is presented to address the problem of reconstructing images from arbitrarily‐sampled k‐space. The new algorithm solves a sparse system of linear equations that is equivalent to a deconvolution of the k‐space with a small window. The deconvolution operation results in increased reconstruction accuracy without grid subsampling, at some cost to computational load. By avoiding grid oversampling, the new solution saves memory, which is critical for 3D trajectories. The DING algorithm does not require the calculation of a sampling density compensation function, which is often problematic. DINGs sparse linear system is inverted efficiently using the conjugate gradient (CG) method. The reconstruction of the gridding system matrix is simple and fast, and no regularization is needed. This feature renders DING suitable for situations where the k‐space trajectory is changed often or is not known a priori, such as when patient motion occurs during the scan. DING was compared with conventional gridding and an iterative reconstruction method in computer simulations and in vivo spiral MRI experiments. The results demonstrate a stable performance and reduced root mean square (RMS) error for DING in different k‐space trajectories. Magn Reson Med, 2006.

Correcting reaction rates measured by saturation-transfer magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Off-resonance or spillover irradiation and incomplete saturation can introduce significant errors in the estimates of chemical rate constants measured by saturation-transfer magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Existing methods of correction are effective only over a limited parameter range. Here, a general approach of numerically solving the Bloch-McConnell equations to calculate exchange rates, relaxation times and concentrations for the saturation-transfer experiment is investigated, but found to require more measurements and higher signal-to-noise ratios than in vivo studies can practically afford. As an alternative, correction formulae for the reaction rate are provided which account for the expected parameter ranges and limited measurements available in vivo. The correction term is a quadratic function of experimental measurements. In computer simulations, the new formulae showed negligible bias and reduced the maximum error in the rate constants by about 3-fold compared to traditional formulae, and the error scatter by about 4-fold, over a wide range of parameters for conventional saturation transfer employing progressive saturation, and for the four-angle saturation-transfer method applied to the creatine kinase (CK) reaction in the human heart at 1.5 T. In normal in vivo spectra affected by spillover, the correction increases the mean calculated forward CK reaction rate by 6-16% over traditional and prior correction formulae.

Highly-accelerated quantitative 2D and 3D localized spectroscopy with linear algebraic modeling (SLAM) and sensitivity encoding

Noninvasive magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) with chemical shift imaging (CSI) provides valuable metabolic information for research and clinical studies, but is often limited by long scan times. Recently, spectroscopy with linear algebraic modeling (SLAM) was shown to provide compartment-averaged spectra resolved in one spatial dimension with many-fold reductions in scan-time. This was achieved using a small subset of the CSI phase-encoding steps from central image k-space that maximized the signal-to-noise ratio. Here, SLAM is extended to two- and three-dimensions (2D, 3D). In addition, SLAM is combined with sensitivity-encoded (SENSE) parallel imaging techniques, enabling the replacement of even more CSI phase-encoding steps to further accelerate scan-speed. A modified SLAM reconstruction algorithm is introduced that significantly reduces the effects of signal nonuniformity within compartments. Finally, main-field inhomogeneity corrections are provided, analogous to CSI. These methods are all tested on brain proton MRS data from a total of 24 patients with brain tumors, and in a human cardiac phosphorus 3D SLAM study at 3T. Acceleration factors of up to 120-fold versus CSI are demonstrated, including speed-up factors of 5-fold relative to already-accelerated SENSE CSI. Brain metabolites are quantified in SLAM and SENSE SLAM spectra and found to be indistinguishable from CSI measures from the same compartments. The modified reconstruction algorithm demonstrated immunity to maladjusted segmentation and errors from signal heterogeneity in brain data. In conclusion, SLAM demonstrates the potential to supplant CSI in studies requiring compartment-average spectra or large volume coverage, by dramatically reducing scan-time while providing essentially the same quantitative results.

Limbic Pathway Correlates of Cognitive Impairment in Multiple Sclerosis

Distinct injuries to various limbic white matter pathways have been reported to be associated with different aspects of cognitive dysfunction in multiple sclerosis (MS). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) offers a noninvasive method to map tissue microstructural organization. We utilized quantitative magnetic resonance imaging methods to analyze the main limbic system—white matter structures in MS patients with cognitive impairment (CI).

A New Method for Data Acquisition and Image Reconstruction in Parallel Magnetic Resonance Imaging

We propose a novel data acquisition and image reconstruction method for parallel magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The proposed method improves the GRAPPA (Generalized Auto-calibrating Partially Parallel Acquisitions) method by simultaneously collecting data using the body coil in addition to localized surface coils. The body coil data is included in the GRAPPA reconstruction as an additional coil. The reconstructed body coil image shows greater uniformity over the field of view than the conventional sum-of-squares reconstruction that is conventionally used with GRAPPA. The body coil image can also be used to correct for spatial inhomogeneity in the sum-of-squares image. The proposed method is tested using numerical and real MRI phantom data.

Quantification of human high‐energy phosphate metabolite concentrations at 3 T with partial volume and sensitivity corrections

Practical noninvasive methods for the measurement of absolute metabolite concentrations are key to the assessment of the depletion of myocardial metabolite pools which occurs with several cardiac diseases, including infarction and heart failure. Localized MRS offers unique noninvasive access to many metabolites, but is often confounded by nonuniform sensitivity and partial volume effects in the large, poorly defined voxels commonly used for the detection of low‐concentration metabolites with surface coils. These problems are exacerbated at higher magnetic field strengths by greater radiofrequency (RF) field inhomogeneity and differences in RF penetration with heteronuclear concentration referencing. An example is the 31P measurement of cardiac adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and phosphocreatine (PCr) concentrations, which, although central to cardiac energetics, have not been measured at field strengths above 1.5 T. Here, practical acquisition and analysis protocols are presented for the quantification of [PCr] and [ATP] with one‐dimensionally resolved surface coil spectra and concentration referencing at 3 T. The effects of nonuniform sensitivity and partial tissue volumes are addressed at 3 T by the application of MRI‐based three‐dimensional sensitivity weighting and tissue segmentation. The method is validated in phantoms of different sizes and concentrations, and used to measure [PCr] and [ATP] in healthy subjects. In calf muscle (n = 8), [PCr] = 24.7 ± 3.4 and [ATP] = 5.7 ± 1.3 µmol/g wet weight, whereas, in heart (n = 18), [PCr] = 10.4 ± 1.5 and [ATP] = 6.0 ± 1.1 µmol/g wet weight (all mean ± SD), consistent with previous reports at lower fields. The method enables, for the first time, the efficient, semi‐automated quantification of high‐energy phosphate metabolites in humans at 3 T with nonuniform excitation and detection. Copyright

MRI dynamic range and its compatibility with signal transmission media

As the number of MRI phased array coil elements grows, interactions among cables connecting them to the system receiver become increasingly problematic. Fiber optic or wireless links would reduce electromagnetic interference, but their dynamic range (DR) is generally less than that of coaxial cables. Raw MRI signals, however, have a large DR because of the high signal amplitude near the center of k-space. Here, we study DR in MRI in order to determine the compatibility of MRI multicoil imaging with non-coaxial cable signal transmission. Since raw signal data are routinely discarded, we have developed an improved method for estimating the DR of MRI signals from conventional magnitude images. Our results indicate that the DR of typical surface coil signals at 3T for human subjects is less than 88 dB, even for three-dimensional acquisition protocols. Cardiac and spine coil arrays had a maximum DR of less than 75 dB and head coil arrays less than 88 dB. The DR derived from magnitude images is in good agreement with that measured from raw data. The results suggest that current analog fiber optic links, with a spurious-free DR of 60-70 dB at 500 kHz bandwidth, are not by themselves adequate for transmitting MRI data from volume or array coils with DR approximately 90 dB. However, combining analog links with signal compression might make non-coaxial cable signal transmission viable.