Multiparametric functional MRI of the kidneys - evaluation of test-retest repeatability and effects of different manual and automatic image analysis strategies.

Multiparametric MRI is a promising technique for noninvasive structural and functional imaging of the kidneys that is gaining increasing importance in clinical research. Still, there are no standardized recommendations for analyzing the acquired images and there is a need to further evaluate the accuracy and repeatability of currently recommended MRI parameters. The aim of the study was to evaluate the test-retest repeatability of functional renal MRI parameters using different image analysis strategies.

Feasibility, classification and potential clinical impact of non-invasive delineation of abdominal lymphatic vessels in patients following TCPC with T2 weighted MRI.

Recent research in patients with functionally univentricular hearts (UVH) is focusing on pathologies of the lymphatic vessels. Morphology of the abdominal lymphatic vessels was analyzed by MRI in patients with UVH following total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) and it was examined, if clinical and laboratory parameters correlate with changes after TCPC. We prospectively examined 33 patients at the age of 19.

A straightforward procedure to build a non-toxic relaxometry phantom with desired T1 and T2 times at 3T.

Objective: To prepare and analyze soy-lecithin-agar gels for non-toxic relaxometry phantoms with tissue-like relaxation times at 3T.

Methods: Phantoms mimicking the relaxation times of various tissues (gray and white matter, kidney cortex and medulla, spleen, muscle, liver) were built and tested with a clinical 3T whole-body MR scanner. Simple equations were derived to calculate the appropriate concentrations of soy lecithin and agar in aqueous solutions to achieve the desired relaxation times.

Frequency shifts of free water signals from compact bone: Simulations and measurements using a UTE-FID sequence.

Purpose: Free water in cortical bone is either contained in nearly cylindrical structures (mainly Haversian canals oriented parallel to the bone axis) or in more spherically shaped pores (lacunae). Those cavities have been reported to crucially influence bone quality and mechanical stability. Susceptibility differences between bone and water can lead to water frequency shifts dependent on the geometric characteristics.