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Accurate differentiation of benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes is important for prognosis and treatment planning in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance image (MRI) texture analysis and traditional 18F-deoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) features. This retrospective study included 21 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. We used texture analysis of MRI and FDG-PET features to evaluate 109 histologically confirmed cervical lymph nodes (41 metastatic, 68 benign). Predictive models were evaluated using area under the curve (AUC). Significant differences were observed between benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes for 36 of 41 texture features (p < 0.05). A combination of 22 MRI texture features discriminated benign and malignant nodal disease with AUC, sensitivity, and specificity of 0.952, 92.7%, and 86.7%, which was comparable to maximum short-axis diameter, lymph node morphology, and maximum standard uptake value (SUVmax). The addition of MRI texture features to traditional FDG-PET features differentiated these groups with the greatest AUC, sensitivity, and specificity (0.989, 97.5%, and 94.1%). The addition of the MRI texture feature to lymph node morphology improved nodal assessment specificity from 70.6% to 88.2% among FDG-PET indeterminate lymph nodes. Texture features are useful for differentiating benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Lymph node morphology and SUVmax remain accurate tools. Specificity is improved by the addition of MRI texture features among FDG-PET indeterminate lymph nodes. This approach is useful for differentiating benign and malignant cervical lymph nodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a biphasic theory is applied to investigate the viscoelastic behaviors of vocal fold lamina propria during stress relaxation. The vocal fold lamina propria tissue is described as a biphasic material composed of a solid phase and an interstitial fluid phase. The biphasic theory reveals the interaction between the solid and the fluid. For the one-dimensional case, the analytical solutions of solid displacement, fluid velocity, and stress are derived. The biphasic theory predicts the stress relaxation of the vocal fold lamina propria. The quasilinear viscoelastic model as well as its higher-order elastic parameters can be derived from this biphasic theory. Furthermore, the fluid is found to support the majority of the stress at the early stage of stress relaxation; however, when the time becomes sufficiently large, the solid eventually bears all the stress. The early fluid stress support is much higher than the eventual solid support and may be important for understanding the effects of dehydration on tissue damage. By considering the solid-fluid structure of the vocal fold lamina propria, the biphasic theory allows for a more physical theory of tissue viscoelasticity than a single phase solid description and may provide a valuable physical mechanism for the observed vocal fold rheologic behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]