Comparison of AI software tools for automated detection, quantification and categorization of pulmonary nodules in the HANSE LCS trial.

Participant management in a lung cancer screening (LCS) depends on the assigned Lung Imaging Reporting and Data System (Lung-RADS) category, which is based on reliable detection and measurement of pulmonary nodules. The aim of this study was to compare the agreement of two AI-based software tools for detection, quantification and categorization of pulmonary nodules in an LCS program in Northern Germany (HANSE-trial). 946 low-dose baseline CT-examinations were analyzed by two AI software tools regarding lung nodule detection, quantification and categorization and compared to the final radiologist read.

A synthetic lung model (ASYLUM) for validation of functional lung imaging methods shows significant differences between signal-based and deformation-field-based ventilation measurements.

Introduction: Validation of functional free-breathing MRI involves a comparison to more established or more direct measurements. This procedure is cost-intensive, as it requires access to patient cohorts, lengthy protocols, expenses for consumables, and binds working time. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to introduce a synthetic lung model (ASYLUM), which mimics dynamic MRI acquisition and includes predefined lung abnormalities for an alternative validation approach.

Free-breathing 3D phase-resolved functional lung MRI vs breath-hold hyperpolarized Xe ventilation MRI in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and healthy volunteers.

Objectives: 3D phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI offers evaluation of pulmonary ventilation without inhalation of contrast agent. This study seeks to compare ventilation maps obtained from 3D PREFUL MRI with a direct ventilation measurement derived from Xe MRI in both patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and healthy volunteers.

Methods: Thirty-one patients with COPD and 12 healthy controls underwent free-breathing 3D PREFUL MRI and breath-hold Xe MRI at 1.

PREFUL MRI for Monitoring Perfusion and Ventilation Changes after Elexacaftor-Tezacaftor-Ivacaftor Therapy for Cystic Fibrosis: A Feasibility Study.

Purpose To assess the feasibility of monitoring the effects of elexacaftor-tezacaftor-ivacaftor (ETI) therapy on lung ventilation and perfusion in people with cystic fibrosis (CF), using phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI. Materials and Methods This secondary analysis of a multicenter prospective study was carried out between August 2020 and March 2021 and included participants 12 years or older with CF who underwent PREFUL MRI, spirometry, sweat chloride test, and lung clearance index assessment before and 8-16 weeks after ETI therapy. For PREFUL-derived ventilation and perfusion parameter extraction, two-dimensional coronal dynamic gradient-echo MR images were evaluated with an automated quantitative pipeline.

Comparison of Free-Breathing 3D Phase-Resolved Functional Lung (PREFUL) MRI With Dynamic F Ventilation MRI in Patients With Obstructive Lung Disease and Healthy Volunteers.

Background: Non-contrast-enhanced H magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with full lung coverage shows promise for assessment of regional lung ventilation but a comparison with direct ventilation measurement using F MRI is lacking.

Purpose: To compare ventilation parameters calculated using 3D phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI with F MRI.

Study Type: Prospective.

Prevalence of pericardial effusion in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Background: Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) has numerous extrarenal manifestations. Pericardial effusion (PE) may be an underrecognized complication with a reported prevalence of up to 35%. Our study is the first to systematically evaluate the prevalence of PE and associated risk factors in an ADPKD cohort outside the USA.

Artificially-generated consolidations and balanced augmentation increase performance of U-net for lung parenchyma segmentation on MR images.

Purpose: To improve automated lung segmentation on 2D lung MR images using balanced augmentation and artificially-generated consolidations for training of a convolutional neural network (CNN).

Materials And Methods: From 233 healthy volunteers and 100 patients, 1891 coronal MR images were acquired. Of these, 1666 images without consolidations were used to build a binary semantic CNN for lung segmentation and 225 images (187 without consolidations, 38 with consolidations) were used for testing.

Phase-resolved Functional Lung (PREFUL) MRI-derived Ventilation and Perfusion Parameters Predict Future Lung Transplant Loss.

Background Chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD), the physiologic correlate of chronic rejection, remains a major barrier to long-term survival following lung transplant. Biomarkers for early prediction of future transplant loss or death due to CLAD might open a window of opportunity for early diagnosis and treatment of CLAD. Purpose To evaluate the prognostic use of phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI in predicting CLAD-related transplant loss or death.

Volume-Controlled F MR Ventilation Imaging of Fluorinated Gas.

Background: F MRI of inhaled gas tracers has developed into a promising tool for pulmonary diagnostics. Prior to clinical use, the intersession repeatability of acquired ventilation parameters must be quantified and maximized.

Purpose: To evaluate repeatability of static and dynamic F ventilation parameters and correlation with predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV %pred) with and without inspiratory volume control.

A dual center and dual vendor comparison study of automated perfusion-weighted phase-resolved functional lung magnetic resonance imaging with dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging in patients with cystic fibrosis.

For sensitive diagnosis and monitoring of pulmonary disease, ionizing radiation-free imaging methods are of great importance. A noncontrast and free-breathing proton magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique for assessment of pulmonary perfusion is phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI. Since there is no validation of PREFUL MRI across different centers and scanners, the purpose of this study was to compare perfusion-weighted PREFUL MRI with the well-established dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI across two centers on scanners from two different vendors.

PREFUL MRI Depicts Dual Bronchodilator Changes in COPD: A Retrospective Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Purpose: To assess whether dynamic ventilation and perfusion (Q) biomarkers derived by phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI can measure treatment response to 14-day therapy with indacaterol-glycopyrronium (IND-GLY) and correlate to clinical outcomes including lung function, symptoms, and cardiac function in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), as determined by spirometry, body plethysmography, cardiac MRI, and dyspnea score measurements.

Materials And Methods: The cardiac left ventricular function in COPD (CLAIM) study enrolled patients aged 40 years or older with COPD, stable cardiovascular function, and hyperinflation (residual volume > 135% predicted). Dynamic MRI data of these patients were retrospectively analyzed using the PREFUL technique to assess the effect of 14-day IND-GLY treatment versus placebo on regional measurements of ventilation dynamics.

Examining lung microstructure using F MR diffusion imaging in COPD patients.

Purpose: To examine the time-dependent diffusion of fluorinated ( F) gas in human lungs for determination of surface-to-volume ratio in comparison to results from hyperpolarized Xe and lung function testing in healthy volunteers and patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Methods: Diffusion of fluorinated gas in the short-time regime was measured using multiple gradient-echo sequences with a single pair of trapezoidal gradient pulses. Pulmonary surface-to-volume ratio was calculated using a first-order approximation of the time-dependent diffusion in a study with 20 healthy volunteers and 22 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Clinical assessment of tibial torsion differences. Do we always need a computed tomography?

Background: Tibial torsional malalignment presents a well-known complication of intramedullary nailing for tibial shaft fractures.

Purpose: Objective of this study was to investigate the ability to clinically assess tibial torsion differences. Computed Tomography (CT) was used here as the gold standard.

Comparison of dual-energy computer tomography and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI for evaluating lung perfusion defects in chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension.

Objectives: To evaluate the agreement in detecting pulmonary perfusion defects in patients with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension using dual-energy CT and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI. Second, to compare both imaging modalities in monitoring lung perfusion changes in these patients after undergoing pulmonary endarterectomy.

Methods: 20 patients were examined with CT and MRI before and/or after pulmonary endarterectomy.

Perfusion quantification using voxel-wise proton density and median signal decay in PREFUL MRI.

Purpose: Contrast-free lung MRI based on Fourier decomposition is an attractive method to monitor various lung diseases. However, the accuracy of the current perfusion quantification is limited. In this study, a new approach for perfusion quantification based on voxel-wise proton density and median signal decay toward the steady state for Fourier decomposition-based techniques is proposed called Q (Q ).

Flow Volume Loop and Regional Ventilation Assessment Using Phase-Resolved Functional Lung (PREFUL) MRI: Comparison With Xenon Ventilation MRI and Lung Function Testing.

Background: Regional flow volume loop ventilation-weighted noncontrast-enhanced proton lung MRI in free breathing has emerged as a novel technique for assessment of regional lung ventilation, but has yet not been validated with Xenon MRI ( Xe-MRI), a direct visualization of ventilation in healthy volunteers, cystic fibrosis (CF), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients.

Purpose: To compare regional ventilation and regional flow volume loops measured by noncontrast-enhanced ventilation-weighted phase-resolved functional lung MRI (PREFUL-MRI) with Xe-MRI ventilation imaging and with lung function test parameters.

Study Type: Retrospective study.

3D phase-resolved functional lung ventilation MR imaging in healthy volunteers and patients with chronic pulmonary disease.

Purpose: To test the feasibility of 3D phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL) MRI in healthy volunteers and patients with chronic pulmonary disease, to compare 3D to 2D PREFUL, and to investigate the required temporal resolution to obtain stable 3D PREFUL measurement.

Methods: Sixteen participants underwent MRI using 2D and 3D PREFUL. Retrospectively, the spatial resolution of 3D PREFUL (4 × 4 × 4 mm ) was decreased to match the spatial resolution of 2D PREFUL (4 × 4 × 15 mm ), abbreviated as 3D .

Perioperative CTEPH patient monitoring with 2D phase-contrast MRI reflects clinical, cardiac and pulmonary perfusion changes after pulmonary endarterectomy.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an emerging tool for diagnosis and treatment monitoring of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH). The current study aims to identify central pulmonary arterial hemodynamic parameters that reflect clinical, cardiac and pulmonary changes after PEA. 31 CTEPH patients, who underwent PEA and received pre- and postoperative MRI, were analyzed retrospectively.

Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension Perioperative Monitoring Using Phase-Resolved Functional Lung (PREFUL)-MRI.

Background: The translation of phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL)-MRI to routine practice in monitoring chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) still requires clinical corresponding imaging biomarkers of pulmonary vascular disease.

Purpose: To evaluate successful pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) via PREFUL-MRI with pulmonary pulse wave transit time (pPTT).

Study Type: Retrospective.

H-guided reconstruction of F gas MRI in COPD patients.

Purpose: To reduce acquisition time and improve image quality and robustness of ventilation assessment in a single breath-hold using H-guided reconstruction of fluorinated gas ( F) MRI.

Methods: Reconstructions constraining total variation in the image domain, L1 norm in the wavelet domain, and directional total variation between F and H images were compared in order to accelerate F ventilation imaging using retrospectively undersampled data from a healthy volunteer. Using the optimal constrained reconstruction in 8 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (16-seconds breath-hold), ventilation maps of various acceleration factors (2-fold to 13-fold) were compared with maps of the full data set using the Dice coefficient, difference in volume defect percentage and overlap percentage, as well as hyperpolarized Xe gas MRI.

Validation of Automated Perfusion-Weighted Phase-Resolved Functional Lung (PREFUL)-MRI in Patients With Pulmonary Diseases.

Background: Perfusion-weighted (Qw) noncontrast-enhanced proton lung MRI is a promising technique for assessment of pulmonary perfusion, but still requires validation.

Purpose: To improve perfusion-weighted phase-resolved functional lung (PREFUL)-MRI, to validate PREFUL with perfusion single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) as a gold standard, and to compare PREFUL with dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE)-MRI as a reference.

Study Type: Retrospective.

Evaluation of neutral oral contrast agents for assessment of the small bowel at abdominal staging CT.

Background: Although neutral oral contrast agents are widely in use, a consensus regarding a standardized protocol in abdominal staging CT does not exist.

Purpose: To test the null hypothesis that there is no quantitative or qualitative difference between water and mannitol for evaluation of the small bowel at abdominal staging CT.

Material And Methods: 180 patients prospectively underwent abdominal staging CT with oral administration of either 1 liter mannitol solution (n = 88) or water (n = 92).

Deep semantic lung segmentation for tracking potential pulmonary perfusion biomarkers in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): The multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis COPD study.

Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Identification of imaging biomarkers for phenotyping is necessary for future treatment and therapy monitoring. However, translation of visual analytic pipelines into clinics or their use in large-scale studies is significantly slowed by time-consuming postprocessing steps.

MRI-derived regional flow-volume loop parameters detect early-stage chronic lung allograft dysfunction.

Background: Chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) is a major cause for the low long-term survival rates after lung transplantation (LTx). Early detection of CLAD may enable providing medical treatment before a nonreversible graft dysfunction has occurred. MRI is advantageous to pulmonary function testing (PFT) in the ability to assess regional function changes, and thus have the potential in detecting very early stages of CLAD before changes in global forced expiratory volume during the first second (FEV1%) occur.