Preliminary investigation of whole-pancreas 3D histogram ADC metrics for predicting progression of acute pancreatitis.

Purpose: To evaluate whole-pancreas 3D-histogram ADC metrics in acute pancreatitis.

Methods: In 41 patients with acute pancreatitis undergoing MRI/MRCP with DWI, 3D-volumes-of-interest encompassing the entire pancreas were placed to derive whole-pancreas histogram ADC metrics.

Results: There were trends toward higher 0-10th percentile ADC, higher 10-25th percentile ADC, lower skewness, and higher kurtosis in patients with new complications (p=0.

Vascular Reactivity Maps in Patients with Gliomas Using Breath-Holding BOLD fMRI.

Background And Purpose: To evaluate whether breath-holding (BH) blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) fMRI can quantify differences in vascular reactivity (VR), as there is a need for improved contrast mechanisms in gliomas.

Methods: 16 patients (gliomas, grade II = 5, III = 2, IV = 9) were evaluated using the BH paradigm: 4-second single deep breath followed by 16 seconds of BH and 40 seconds of regular breathing for five cycles. VR was defined as the difference in BOLD signal between the minimal signal seen at the end of the deep breath and maximal signal seen at the end of BH (peak-to-trough).

ERG is a novel and reliable marker for endothelial cells in central nervous system tumors.

ETS-related gene (ERG) is a transcription factor that has been linked to angiogenesis. Very little research has been done to assess ERG expression in central nervous system (CNS) tumors. We evaluated 57 CNS tumors, including glioblastomas (GBMs) and hemangioblastomas (HBs), as well as two arteriovenous malformations and four samples of normal brain tissue with immunohistochemistry using a specific ERG rabbit monoclonal antibody.

A system for high-resolution depth-resolved optical imaging of fluorescence and absorption contrast.

Laminar optical tomography (LOT) is a new three-dimensional in vivo functional optical imaging technique. Adopting a microscopy-based setup and diffuse optical tomography (DOT) imaging principles, LOT can perform both absorption- and fluorescence-contrast imaging with higher resolution (100-200 microm) than DOT and deeper penetration (2-3 mm) than laser scanning microscopy. These features, as well as a large field of view and acquisition speeds up to 100 frames per second, make LOT suitable for depth-resolved imaging of stratified tissues such as retina, skin, endothelial tissues and the cortex of the brain.