Takao Akatsuka

Development of High‐Speed Fluorescent X‐Ray Micro‐Computed Tomography

A high‐speed fluorescent x‐ray CT (FXCT) system using monochromatic synchrotron x rays was developed to detect very low concentration of medium‐Z elements for biomedical use. The system is equipped two types of high purity germanium detectors, and fast electronics and software. Preliminary images of a 10mm diameter plastic phantom containing channels field with iodine solutions of different concentrations showed a minimum detection level of 0.002 mg I/ml at an in‐plane spatial resolution of 100μm. Furthermore, the acquisition time was reduced about 1/2 comparing to previous system. The results indicate that FXCT is a highly sensitive imaging modality capable of detecting very low concentration of iodine, and that the method has potential in biomedical applications.

Modified surface-coil-type resonators for EPR measurements of a thin membranelike sample

Surface-coil-type resonators (SCRs) equipped with a circular single-tum coil (conventional SCR), a circular spiral coil (spiral SCR), and a plate-type single-turn coil (plate-type SCR) were fabricated. By using these SCRs, the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) sensitivities of thin membranelike samples were investigated. For a non-dielectric-loss phantom, filter paper containing 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl was used. For a high-dielectric-loss phantom, gauze containing an aqueous solution of 3-carbamoyl-2,2,5,5-tetramethylpyrrolidine-1-oxyl (carbamoyl-PROXYL) was used. For a biological sample, a pea leaf impregnated with the carbamoyl-PROXYL solution was used. The sensitivity (signal-to-noise ratio) of the spiral and plate-type SCRs for the non-dielectric-loss phantom was significantly greater than that of the conventional SCR. Under these conditions, the sensitivity of the spiral SCR was relatively higher than that of the plate-type SCR. For the high-dielectric-loss phantom, the sensitivity of the plate-type SCRs was significantly greater than that of the conventional SCR, but there were no differences in sensitivity between the spiral and conventional SCRs. The sensitivity of the plate-type SCR in the EPR measurement of a pea leaf was significantly greater than that of the conventional SCR. These findings show that the spiral and plate-type SCRs are suitable for measuring EPR of thin membranelike samples, especially when the former is used for the non-dielectric-loss sample and the latter for high-dielectric-loss sample, including the leaf.

Estimation of the in vivo decay rate of EPR signals for a nitroxide radical in rat brains by a region-selected intensity determination method

The region-selected intensity determination (RSID) method was proposed to obtain the temporal changes in electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) signal intensity from a selected region by a stationary magnetic field gradient. To select the region, the subtraction field that was derived from the distance between the center and the projection of the selected region to the direction of the field gradient was applied to the main field. The directions of the stationary magnetic field gradient at a constant strength were systematically changed in a three-dimensional space after each acquisition of the spectrum. All spectra under the field gradient were accumulated and the resultant spectrum was deconvoluted by a spectrum without the field gradient. The center height of the deconvoluted spectrum indicates the signal intensity of the selected region. To verify this method, a phantom or in vivo study was conducted on a 700 MHz radio-frequency EPR spectrometer equipped with a bridged loop-gap resonator. In the temporal EPR measurements of phantoms including a nitroxide radical aqueous solution with and without ascorbic acid, the selected regions were alternatively changed at the position of the two phantoms. The signal intensity derived from the one phantom showed an exponential decay, and for the other phantom, no temporal changes. The spatial resolution of this method was estimated to be 2.7 mm by using a pinpoint phantom that included diphenylpicrylhydrazyl powder. In the in vivo temporal EPR measurements, the selected regions were alternatively changed at the cerebral cortex and the striatum of rats that had received a blood-brain barrier-permeative nitroxide radical. The decay rate of the signal intensity at each region obtained by this method was consistent with those previously reported.

Fundamental imaging properties of transillumination laser CT using optical fiber applicable to bio-medical sensing

We proposed and developed a novel transillumination laser CT imaging system, using optical fibers, based on the optical heterodyne detection method for biomedical use. The use of optical fibers enables portability and robustness against environmental changes such as varying temperature, air-flow shifts, and unexpected vibrations. In addition, motion-artifact-free images can be obtained with the present system as measurements can be performed with the object fixed. We experimentally investigate in detail the fundamental imaging properties of the system, that has a spatial resolution of 500 /spl mu/m, a dynamic range of approximately 110 dB, and a minimum-detectable-optical power of 10/sup -14/ W as a result of the excellent properties of the heterodyne detection. Based on experimental observations, the proposed system can reconstruct tomographic images of highly scattering objects in the transillumination mode, similar to X-ray CT, at sub-millimeter spatial resolution and can derive quantitative information from the images. Finally, we experimentally demonstrate the first in-situ tomographic images of plants using the fiber-optic-based laser CT system.

SR biomedical imaging with phase-contrast and fluorescent x-ray CT

New synchrotron x-ray CT system with phase-contrast and fluorescent techniques are being developed for biomedical researches with the high-contrast and high-spatial resolution. We have applied these techniques for in-vivo and ex-vivo imaging. The phase-contrast x-ray CT (PCCT) was a highly sensitive imaging technique to depict the morphological information of the soft tissue in biological object, whereas fluorescent x-ray CT (FXCT) could depict the functional information concerning to specific heavy atomic number elements at very low content. Thus, the success of in-vivo imaging by PCCT and FXCT allows starting new approach to bio-imaging researches.

Estimation of temporary change of activation areas by moving an analysis time window in fMRI measurement

In this paper, we propose a method to acquire temporal changes of activations by moving an analysis time window. An advantage of this method is that it can acquire rough changes of activated areas even with the data having low time resolution. We ascertained that activations from our method do not contradict previous reports on the oddball paradigm, thus showing its effectiveness. Eight normal subjects participated in the study, which consisted of a random series of 30 target and 70 nontarget stimuli. We investigated the activated area in three kinds of analysis time sections, from stimulus onset to 5 s after the stimulus (time section A), from 2 to 7 s after (B) and from 4 to 9 s after (C). In time section A, representative activated areas were regions including the left and supplementary motor areas (SMA), and cerebellum. In B, regions including the left motor area and SMA, right parahippocampal gyrus (Broadmann Area (BA) 30), right limbic lobe and cerebellum were activated. In C, bilaterally postcentral gyrus (BA 3,40), right anterior cingulate (ACC, BA 32), left middle frontal gyrus (BA 9) and right parahippocampal gyrus were activated. Most activations were consistent with previous studies.

Doppler Broadening Calculations of Compton Scattering for Molecules, Plastics, Tissues, and Few Biological Materials in the X-Ray Region: An Analysis in Terms of Compton Broadening and Geometrical Energy Broadening

Relativistic and nonrelativistic Compton profile cross sections for H, C, N, O, P, and Ca and for a few important biological materials such as water, polyethylene, lucite, polystyrene, nylon, polycarbonate, bakelite, fat, bone and calcium hydroxyapatite are estimated for a number of Kα x-ray energies and for 59.54 keV (Am-241) γ photons. Energy broadening and geometrical broadening (ΔG) is estimated by assuming θmin and θmax are symmetrically situated around θ=90°. FWHM of J(PZ) and FWHM of Compton energy broadening are evaluated at various incident photon energies. These values are estimated around the centroid of the Compton profile with an energy interval of 0.1 and 1.0 keV for 59.54 keV photons. Total Compton, individual shell, and Compton energy–absorption scattering cross sections are evaluated in the energy region from 0.005 to 0.5 MeV. It is an attempt to know the effect of Doppler broadening for single atoms, many of which constitute the biological materials.

Prototype system of laser transillumination computed tomography for early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis

So far we have shown, through various preliminary imaging experiments with small-animal ankle’s and human finger’s joints both healthy and joint-diseased, that early diagnosis for joint disease such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is feasible using a transillumination laser CT. For a practical purpose, we have recently proposed and developed a transillumination laser CT imaging system using optical fibers based on the optical heterodyne detection method for a clinical use. In the proposed system, motion-artifact free images can be obtained because measurements can be performed with the object fixed. In addition, use of fiber-optics enables portability, and robustness against environmental changes in a room, such as variable temperature, air-flow shifts, and unexpected vibrations. The imaging system has the following sensing properties: spatial resolution of 500 μm, a dynamic range of approximately 120 dB, and a minimum-detectable-optical power of 10-14 W as a result of the excellent properties of the heterodyne detection technique. In the present paper, we describe a prototype laser CT imaging system using optical fibers for early diagnosis of joint disease such as rheumatoid arthritis by demonstrating the first in vivo tomographic image of a volunteer’s index finger joint as well as the fundamental imaging properties.

Images of Soft-bodied Animals with External Hard Shell: 3D Visualization of the Embedded Soft Tissue

Images of soft‐bodied animals (snails) of various types with external hard shell are obtained for 25, 27 and 29 keV synchrotron X‐rays. The SYRMEP facility at Elettra,Trieste, Italy and the associated detection system has been used for the image acquisition. The interior properties of the embedded soft tissue are analysed utilizing the software. From the reconstructed images, the soft tissue distribution, void spaces associated with the soft tissue and external hard shell are identified. 3D images are reconstructed at these energies and optimum energy is chosen based on the quality of the image for further analysis. The optimum energy allowed us to visualize the visibility of low absorbing details and interiror microstructure of the embedded soft tissue.

Transmission images and evaluation of tomographic imaging based scattered radiation from biological materials using 10, 15, 20 and 25 keV synchrotron X‐rays: An analysis in terms of optimum energy

Transmission images and tomographic imaging based scattered radiation is evaluated from biological materials, for example, Polyethylene, Poly carbonate, Plexiglas and Nylon using 10, 15, 20 and 25 keV synchrotron X‐rays. The SYRMEP facility at Elettra,Trieste, Italy and the associated detection system has been used for the image acquisition. The scattered radiation is detected for each sample at three energies at an angle of 90° using Si‐Pin detector coupled to a multi‐channel analyzer. The contribution of transmitted, Compton and fluorescence photons are assessed for a test phantom of small dimensions. The optimum analysis is performed with the use of the dimensions of the sample and detected radiation at various energies.