Dynamic MRI of swallowing: real-time volumetric imaging at 12 frames per second at 3 T.

Objective: Dysphagia or difficulty in swallowing is a potentially hazardous clinical problem that needs regular monitoring. Real-time 2D MRI of swallowing is a promising radiation-free alternative to the current clinical standard: videofluoroscopy. However, aspiration may be missed if it occurs outside this single imaged slice.

Personalized biomechanical tongue models based on diffusion-weighted MRI and validated using optical tracking of range of motion.

For advanced tongue cancer, the choice between surgery and organ-sparing treatment is often dependent on the expected loss of tongue functionality after treatment. Biomechanical models might assist in this choice by simulating the post-treatment function loss. However, this function loss varies between patients and should, therefore, be predicted for each patient individually.

A 12-channel flexible receiver coil for accelerated tongue imaging.

Objective: MRI of the tongue requires acceleration to minimise motion artefacts and to facilitate real-time imaging of swallowing. To accelerate tongue MRI, we designed a dedicated flexible receiver coil.

Materials And Methods: We designed a flexible 12-channel receiver coil for tongue MRI at 3T and compared it to a conventional head-and-neck coil regarding SNR and g-factor.

Crossing muscle fibers of the human tongue resolved in vivo using constrained spherical deconvolution.

Background: Surgical resection of tongue cancer may impair swallowing and speech. Knowledge of tongue muscle architecture affected by the resection could aid in patient counseling. Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) enables reconstructions of muscle architecture in vivo.