Improving FLAIR SAR efficiency at 7T by adaptive tailoring of adiabatic pulse power through deep learning estimation.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate a method for specific absorption rate (SAR) reduction for 2D T -FLAIR MRI sequences at 7 T by predicting the required adiabatic radiofrequency (RF) pulse power and scaling the RF amplitude in a slice-wise fashion.

Methods: We used a time-resampled frequency-offset corrected inversion (TR-FOCI) adiabatic pulse for spin inversion in a T -FLAIR sequence to improve homogeneity and calculated the pulse power required for adiabaticity slice-by-slice to minimize the SAR. Drawing on the implicit inhomogeneity in a standard localizer scan, we acquired 3D AutoAlign localizers and SA2RAGE maps in 28 volunteers.

Enhanced Dopamine in Prodromal Schizophrenia (EDiPS): a new animal model of relevance to schizophrenia.

One of the most robust neurochemical abnormalities reported in patients living with schizophrenia is an increase in dopamine (DA) synthesis and release in the dorsal striatum (DS). Importantly, it appears that this increase progresses as a patient transitions from a prodromal stage to the clinical diagnosis of schizophrenia. Here we have recreated this pathophysiology in an animal model by increasing the capacity for DA synthesis preferentially within the DS.

Protective Antigen Shows High Specificity for a UV Induced Mouse Model of Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) accounts for the majority of non-melanoma skin cancer related deaths, particularly in immunosuppressed persons. Identification of biomarkers that could be used to identify or treat SCC would be of significant benefit. The anthrax toxin receptors, Tumor Endothelial Marker 8 (TEM8) and Capillary Morphogenesis Gene 2 (CMG2), are endothelial receptors involved in extracellular matrix homeostasis and angiogenesis that are selectively upregulated on numerous tumors.

MR-based electrical property tomography using a modified finite difference scheme.

Magnetic resonance electrical property tomography (MR-EPT) reconstructs electrical properties (EPs) from measured magnetic fields in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems. In this study, an MR-EPT method was proposed that utilized a new finite difference approximation of the involved differential wave equation. Compared with existing MR-EPT approaches, the construction of the system matrix involves applying the first derivative twice based on a larger number of neighbouring finite-difference grids, which is different from a standard Laplacian operator on a regular grid structure, leading to a better conditioned linear inverse problem.

Radial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using a rotating radiofrequency (RF) coil at 9.4 T.

The rotating radiofrequency coil (RRFC) has been developed recently as an alternative approach to multi-channel phased-array coils. The single-element RRFC avoids inter-channel coupling and allows a larger coil element with better B field penetration when compared with an array counterpart. However, dedicated image reconstruction algorithms require accurate estimation of temporally varying coil sensitivities to remove artefacts caused by coil rotation.