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Dutch speakers with agrammatic Broca's aphasia are known to have problems with the production of finite verbs in main clauses. This performance pattern has been accounted for in terms of the specific syntactic complexity of the Dutch main clause structure, which requires an extra syntactic operation (Verb Second), relative to the basic Subject-Object-Verb order surfacing in Dutch subordinate clauses. We report an fMRI study into the question whether this syntactic complexity is reflected in increased brain activation correlated with the production of Dutch main clause word order, in speakers without language impairment. Nineteen healthy subjects performed a covert sentence completion task, during which main and subordinate clauses were alternately elicited in a block design. Results show a left middle to superior frontal cluster of activation correlated to production of Verb-Second over Verb-Final clauses, with no activation in the opposite contrast. This activation pattern is counter to what might be expected from the frequency distribution of main and subordinate clauses. We conclude that the Verb-Second deviation from the basic Dutch SOV word order costs extra neural resources and that this also underlies the agrammatic problems with the production of finite verbs in Dutch main clauses. Copyright © 2008 by Elsevier Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background We present a simple, data-driven method to extract haemodynamic response functions (HRF) from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) time series, based on the Fourier-wavelet regularised deconvolution (ForWaRD) technique. HRF data are required for many fMRI applications, such as defining region-specific HRFs, effciently representing a general HRF, or comparing subject-specific HRFs. Results ForWaRD is applied to fMRI time signals, after removing low-frequency trends by a wavelet-based method, and the output of ForWaRD is a time series of volumes, containing the HRF in each voxel. Compared to more complex methods, this extraction algorithm requires few assumptions (separability of signal and noise in the frequency and wavelet domains and the general linear model) and it is fast (HRF extraction from a single fMRI data set takes about the same time as spatial resampling). The extraction method is tested on simulated event-related activation signals, contaminated with noise from a time series of real MRI images. An application for HRF data is demonstrated in a simple event-related experiment: data are extracted from a region with significant effects of interest in a first time series. A continuous-time HRF is obtained by fitting a nonlinear function to the discrete HRF coeffcients, and is then used to analyse a later time series. Conclusion With the parameters used in this paper, the extraction method presented here is very robust to changes in signal properties. Comparison of analyses with fitted HRFs and with a canonical HRF shows that a subject-specific, regional HRF significantly improves detection power. Sensitivity and specificity increase not only in the region from which the HRFs are extracted, but also in other regions of interest.

Purpose: Current challenges of in vivo CEST imaging include overlapping signals from different pools. The overlap arises from closely resonating pools and/or the broad magnetization transfer contrast (MTC) from macromolecules. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of variable delay multipulse (VDMP) CEST to separately assess solute pools with different chemical exchange rates in the human brain in vivo, while mitigating the MTC., Methods: VDMP saturation buildup curves were simulated for amines, amides, and relayed nuclear Overhauser effect. VDMP data were acquired from glutamate and bovine serum albumin phantoms, and from six healthy volunteers at 7T. For the in vivo data, MTC removal was performed via a three-pool Lorentzian fitting. Different B 1 amplitudes and mixing times were used to evaluate CEST pools with different exchange rates., Results: The results show the importance of removing MTC when applying VDMP in vivo and the influence of B 1 for distinguishing different pools. Finally, the optimal B 1 and mixing times to effectively saturate slow- and fast-exchanging components are also reported. Slow-exchanging amides and rNOE components could be distinguished when using B 1 = 1 μT and t mix = 10 ms and 40 ms, respectively. Fast-exchanging components reached the highest saturation when using a B 1 = 2.8 μT and t mix = 0 ms., Conclusion: VDMP is a powerful CEST-editing tool, exploiting chemical exchange-rate differences. After MTC removal, it allows separate assessment of slow- and fast-exchanging solute pools in in vivo human brain., (© 2021 The Authors. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Ultrahigh field magnetic resonance imaging facilitates high spatiotemporal resolution that benefits from increasing the number of receiver elements. Because high-density receiver arrays have a relatively small element size compared with the transmitter, a side effect is that such setups cause low flux coupling between the transmitter and receiver. Moreover, when transmitters are designed in a multitransmit configuration, their relative size is much smaller than the sample, reducing coupling to the sample and thereby potentially also the coupling to the receivers. Transmitters are traditionally detuned during reception. In this study, we investigate, for a 32-channel receiver head array at 7 T, if transmitter detuning of a quadrature birdcage or of an eight-channel transmit coil can be omitted without substantially sacrificing signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). The transmit elements are operated once with and once without detuning and, in the latter, the received signals are either merged with the array or excluded for image reconstruction. For each of the three measurements, SNR and 1/g-factor maps are investigated. The tuning of the quadrature and eight-channel transmit coils during signal reception introduced a 10.1% and 6.5% penalty in SNR, respectively, relative to the SNR received with detuned transmitters. When also incorporating the signal of the transmit coils, the SNR was regained to 98.5% or 101.4% for the quadrature and eight-channel coil, respectively, relative to the detuned transmitters, while the 1/g-factor maps improved slightly. For the 32-channel receive coil used the SNR penalty can become negligible when omitting detuning of the transmit coils. This not only simplifies transmit coil designs, potentially increasing their efficiency, but also enables the transmitters to be used as receivers in parallel to the receiver array, thus increasing parallel imaging performance., (© 2021 The Authors. NMR in Biomedicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Renal multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a promising tool for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment monitoring in kidney disease., Purpose: To determine intrasubject test-retest repeatability of renal MRI measurements., Study Type: Prospective., Population: Nineteen healthy subjects aged over 40 years., Field Strength/sequences: T 1 and T 2 mapping, R 2 * mapping or blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) MRI, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and intravoxel incoherent motion (IVIM) diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), 2D phase contrast, arterial spin labelling (ASL), dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE) MRI, and quantitative Dixon for fat quantification at 3T., Assessment: Subjects were scanned twice with ~1 week between visits. Total scan time was ~1 hour. Postprocessing included motion correction, semiautomated segmentation of cortex and medulla, and fitting of the appropriate signal model., Statistical Test: To assess the repeatability, a Bland-Altman analysis was performed and coefficients of variation (CoVs), repeatability coefficients, and intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated., Results: CoVs for relaxometry (T 1 , T 2 , R 2 */BOLD) were below 6.1%, with the lowest CoVs for T 2 maps and highest for R 2 */BOLD. CoVs for all diffusion analyses were below 7.2%, except for perfusion fraction (F P ), with CoVs ranging from 18-24%. The CoV for renal sinus fat volume and percentage were both around 9%. Perfusion measurements were most repeatable with ASL (cortical perfusion only) and 2D phase contrast with CoVs of 10% and 13%, respectively. DCE perfusion had a CoV of 16%, while single kidney glomerular filtration rate (GFR) had a CoV of 13%. Repeatability coefficients (RCs) ranged from 7.7-87% (lowest/highest values for medullary mean diffusivity and cortical F P , respectively) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) ranged from -0.01 to 0.98 (lowest/highest values for cortical F P and renal sinus fat volume, respectively)., Data Conclusion: CoVs of most MRI measures of renal function and structure (with the exception of F P and perfusion as measured by DCE) were below 13%, which is comparable to standard clinical tests in nephrology., Level of Evidence: 2 TECHNICAL EFFICACY: Stage 1., (© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

The YOUth cohort study is a unique longitudinal study on brain development in the general population. As part of the YOUth study, 2000 children will be included at 8, 9 or 10 years of age and planned to return every three years during adolescence. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans are collected, including structural T1-weighted imaging, diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), resting-state functional MRI and task-based functional MRI. Here, we provide a comprehensive report of the MR acquisition in YOUth Child & Adolescent including the test-retest reliability of brain measures derived from each type of scan. To measure test-retest reliability, 17 adults were scanned twice with a week between sessions using the full YOUth MRI protocol. Intraclass correlation coefficients were calculated to quantify reliability. Global brain measures derived from structural T1-weighted and DWI scans were reliable. Resting-state functional connectivity was moderately reliable, as well as functional brain measures for both the inhibition task (stop versus go) and the emotion task (face versus house). Our results complement previous studies by presenting reliability results of regional brain measures collected with different MRI modalities. YOUth facilitates data sharing and aims for reliable and high-quality data. Here we show that using the state-of-the art YOUth MRI protocol brain measures can be estimated reliably., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background: Gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) are widely used in MRI, despite safety concerns regarding deposition in brain and other organs. In animal studies gadolinium was detected for weeks after administration in the kidneys, but this has not yet been demonstrated in humans., Purpose: To find evidence for the prolonged presence of gadobutrol in the kidneys in healthy volunteers., Study Type: Combined retrospective and prospective analysis of a repeatability study., Population: Twenty-three healthy volunteers with normal renal function (12 women, age range 40-76 years), of whom 21 were used for analysis., Field Strength/sequence: Inversion recovery-based T 1 map at 3T., Assessment: T 1 maps were obtained twice with a median interval of 7 (range: 4-16) days. The T 1 difference (ΔT 1 ) between both scans was compared between the gadolinium group (n = 16, 0.05 mmol/kg gadobutrol administered after T 1 mapping during both scan sessions) and the control group (n = 5, no gadobutrol). T 1 maps were analyzed separately for cortex and medulla., Statistical Tests: Mann-Whitney U-tests to detect differences in ΔT 1 between groups and linear regression to relate time between scans and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) to ΔT 1 ., Results: ΔT 1 differed significantly between the gadolinium and control group: median ΔT 1 cortex -98 vs. 7 msec (P < 0.001) and medulla -68 msec vs. 19 msec (P = 0.001), respectively. The bias corresponds to renal gadobutrol concentrations of 8 nmol/g tissue (cortex) and 4 nmol/g tissue (medulla), ie, ~2.4 μmol for both kidneys (0.05% of original dose). ΔT 1 correlated in the gadolinium group with duration between acquisitions for both cortex (regression coefficient (β) 16.5 msec/day, R 2 0.50, P < 0.001) and medulla (β 11.5 msec/day, R 2 0.32, P < 0.001). Medullary ΔT 1 correlated with eGFR (β 1.13 msec/(ml/min) R 2 0.25, P = 0.008)., Data Conclusion: We found evidence of delayed renal gadobutrol excretion after a single contrast agent administration in subjects with normal renal function. Even within this healthy population, elimination delay increased with decreasing kidney function., Level of Evidence: 3 Technical Efficacy: Stage 3 J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2020;52:622-631., (© 2019 The Authors. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Background and Purpose: Cerebral MR imaging in infants is usually performed with a field strength of up to 3T. In adults, a growing number of studies have shown added diagnostic value of 7T MR imaging. 7T MR imaging might be of additional value in infants with unexplained seizures, for example. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of 7T MR imaging in infants. We provide information about the safety preparations and show the first MR images of infants at 7T., Materials and Methods: Specific absorption rate levels during 7T were simulated in Sim4life using infant and adult models. A newly developed acoustic hood was used to guarantee hearing protection. Acoustic noise damping of this hood was measured and compared with the 3T Nordell hood and no hood. In this prospective pilot study, clinically stable infants, between term-equivalent age and the corrected age of 3 months, underwent 7T MR imaging immediately after their standard 3T MR imaging. The 7T scan protocols were developed and optimized while scanning this cohort., Results: Global and peak specific absorption rate levels in the infant model in the centered position and 50-mm feet direction did not exceed the levels in the adult model. Hearing protection was guaranteed with the new hood. Twelve infants were scanned. No MR imaging-related adverse events occurred. It was feasible to obtain good-quality imaging at 7T for MRA, MRV, SWI, single-shot T2WI, and MR spectroscopy. T1WI had lower quality at 7T., Conclusions: 7T MR imaging is feasible in infants, and good-quality scans could be obtained., (© 2020 by American Journal of Neuroradiology.)

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the most effective treatment for depression, yet its working mechanism remains unclear. In the animal analog of ECT, neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus is observed. In humans, volume increase of the hippocampus has been reported, but accurately measuring the volume of subfields is limited with common MRI protocols. If the volume increase of the hippocampus in humans is attributable to neurogenesis, it is expected to be exclusively present in the DG, whereas other processes (angiogenesis, synaptogenesis) also affect other subfields. Therefore, we acquired an optimized MRI scan at 7-tesla field strength allowing sensitive investigation of hippocampal subfields. A further increase in sensitivity of the within-subjects measurements is gained by automatic placement of the field of view. Patients receive two MRI scans: at baseline and after ten bilateral ECT sessions (corresponding to a 5-week interval). Matched controls are also scanned twice, with a similar 5-week interval. A total of 31 participants (23 patients, 8 controls) completed the study. A large and significant increase in DG volume was observed after ECT (M = 75.44 mm 3 , std error = 9.65, p < 0.001), while other hippocampal subfields were unaffected. We note that possible type II errors may be present due to the small sample size. In controls no changes in volume were found. Furthermore, an increase in DG volume was related to a decrease in depression scores, and baseline DG volume predicted clinical response. These findings suggest that the volume change of the DG is related to the antidepressant properties of ECT, and may reflect neurogenesis.

Background: Ultra-high-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain is attractive for image guidance during neurosurgery because of its high tissue contrast and detailed vessel visualization. However, high-field MRI is prone to distortion artifacts, which may compromise image guidance. Here we investigate intra- and extracranial distortions in 7-T MRI scans., Methods: Five patients with and 5 patients without skin-adhesive fiducials received magnetization-prepared T1-weighted 7-T MRI and standard 3-T MRI scans. The 7- and 3-T images were rigidly coregistered and compared. Intracranial distortions were evaluated qualitatively, whereas shifts at the skin surface and shifts of the center positions of skin-adhesive fiducials were measured quantitatively. Moreover, we present an illustrative case of an ultra-high-field image-guided skull base meningioma resection., Results: We found excellent intracranial correspondence between 3- and 7-T MRI scans. However, the average maximum skin shift was 6.8 ± 2.0 mm in group A and 5.2 ± 0.9 mm in group B. The average maximum difference between the skin-adhesive fiducial positions was 5.6 ± 3.1 mm in group B. In our tumor resection case, the meningioma blood supply could be targeted early thanks to 7-T image guidance, which made subsequent tumor removal straightforward., Conclusions: There are no visible intracranial distortions in magnetization-prepared T1-weighted 7-T MRI cranial images. However, we found considerable extracranial shifts. These shifts render 7-T images unreliable for patient-to-image registration. We recommend performing patient-to-image registration on a routine (computed tomography scan or 3-T magnetic resonance) image and subsequently fusing the 7-T magnetic resonance image with the routine image on the image guidance machine, until this issue is resolved., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) exploits the chemical exchange of labile protons of an endogenous or exogenous compound with water to image the former indirectly through the water signal. Z-spectra of the brain have traditionally been analyzed for two most common saturation phenomena: downfield amide proton transfer (APT) and upfield nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE). However, a great body of brain metabolites, many of interest in neurology and oncology, contributes to the downfield saturation in Z-spectra. The extraction of these "hidden" metabolites from Z-spectra requires careful design of CEST sequences and data processing models, which is only possible by first obtaining CEST signatures of the brain metabolites possessing labile protons. In this work, we measured exchange rates of all major-for-CEST brain metabolites in the physiological pH range at 37 °C. Analysis of their contributions to Z-spectra revealed that regardless of the main magnetic field strength and pH, five main contributors, i.e. myo-inositol, creatine, phosphocreatine, glutamate, and mobile (poly)peptides, account for ca. 90% of downfield CEST effect. The fundamental CEST parameters presented in this study can be exploited in the design of novel CEST sequences and Z-spectra processing models, which will enable simultaneous and quantitative CEST imaging of multiple metabolites: multicolor CEST.

Purpose: Image quality obtained for brain imaging at 7T can be hampered by inhomogeneities in the static magnetic field, B 0 , and the RF electromagnetic field, B 1 . In imaging sequences such as fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR), which is used to assess neurological disorders, these inhomogeneities cause spatial variations in signal that can reduce clinical efficacy. In this work, we aim to correct for signal inhomogeneities to ensure whole-brain coverage with 3D FLAIR at 7T., Methods: The direct signal control (DSC) framework was used to optimize channel weightings applied to the 8 transmit channels used in this work on a pulse-by-pulse basis through the echo train in the FLAIR sequences. 3D FLAIR brain images were acquired on 5 different subjects and compared with imaging using a quadrature-like mode of the transmit array. Precomputed "universal" DSC solutions calculated from a separate set of 5 subjects were also explored., Results: DSC consistently enabled improved imaging across all subjects, with no dropouts in signal seen over the entire brain volume, which contrasted with imaging in quadrature mode. Further, the universal DSC solutions also consistently improved imaging despite not being optimized specifically for the subject being imaged., Conclusion: 3D FLAIR brain imaging at 7T is substantially improved using DSC and is able to recover regions of low signal without increasing imaging time or interecho spacing., (© 2018 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

A method is described to design parallel transmit (PTX) excitation pulses that are compatible with turbo spin echo (TSE) sequences, based on information available from conventional per-channel B 1 + mapping. The excitation phase of PTX pulses that generate a reduced field of excitation (rFOX) is matched to the phase the quadrature mode of a PTX coil. This enables TSE imaging of a PTX-enabled rFOX excitation combined with standard nonselective refocusing pulses transmitted in the quadrature mode. In-vivo imaging experiments were performed at 7T using a dual channel parallel transmit head coil. In combination with simulations, the CPMG-required excitation phase was confirmed in TSE sequences with refocusing pulses of variable flip angle. Further experiments showed that the same rFOX was generated in TSE and gradient echo sequences, enabling high-resolution imaging with parallel imaging acceleration of the rFOX., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To detect neuronal activity-evoked pH changes by amide proton transfer-chemical exchange saturation transfer (APT-CEST) MRI at 7 T., Methods: Three healthy subjects participated in the study. A low-power 3-dimensional APT-CEST sequence was optimized through the Bloch-McConnell equations. pH sensitivity of the sequence was estimated both in phantoms and in vivo. The feasibility of pH-functional MRI was tested in Bloch-McConnell-simulated data using the optimized sequence. In healthy subjects, the visual stimuli were used to evoke transient pH changes in the visual cortex, and a 3-dimensional APT-CEST volume was acquired at the pH-sensitive frequency offset of 3.5 ppm every 12.6 s., Results: In theory, a three-component general linear model was capable of separating the effects of blood oxygenation level-dependent contrast and pH. The Bloch-McConnell equations indicated that a change in pH of 0.03 should be measurable at the experimentally determined temporal signal-to-noise ratio of 108. However, only a blood oxygenation level-dependent effect in the visual cortex could be discerned during the visual stimuli experiments performed in the healthy subjects., Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that if indeed there are any transient brain pH changes in response to visual stimuli, those are under 0.03 units pH change, which is extremely difficult to detect using the existent techniques. Magn Reson Med 80:126-136, 2018. © 2017 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes., (© 2017 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Quantitative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is based on a two-steps approach: estimation of the magnetic moments distribution inside the body, followed by a voxel-by-voxel quantification of the human tissue properties. This splitting simplifies the computations but poses several constraints on the measurement process, limiting its efficiency. Here, we perform quantitative MRI as a one step process; signal localization and parameter quantification are simultaneously obtained by the solution of a large scale nonlinear inversion problem based on first-principles. As a consequence, the constraints on the measurement process can be relaxed and acquisition schemes that are time efficient and widely available in clinical MRI scanners can be employed. We show that the nonlinear tomography approach is applicable to MRI and returns human tissue maps from very short experiments., (Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To evaluate whether brown adipose tissue (BAT) is present in middle-aged patients with cardiovascular comorbidities and to quantify how BAT presence associates with obesity and metabolic dysfunction., Materials and Methods: Supraclavicular and subcutaneous adipose tissue fat-signal-fraction (FF) was determined with 1.5T water-fat magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 50 patients with coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, or peripheral artery disease. The association between BAT presence, as measured by a higher FF difference between supraclavicular and subcutaneous adipose tissue, and obesity and metabolic dysfunction was quantified using multivariable linear regression., Results: Supraclavicular adipose tissue displays a lower FF of 82.6% (interquartile range [IQR] 78.8-84.3) compared to 90.2% (IQR 87.3-91.9) in subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT, P < 0.0001). BAT presence was associated with less obesity and metabolic dysfunction. For example, 1 SD lower waist circumference (11.7 cm), 1 SD lower triglycerides (1.0 mmol/L), and absence of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes were associated with 1.1% (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.1; 2.0), 1.1% (95% CI 0.1; 2.0), 2.1% (95% CI 0.1; 4.1), and 4.1% (95% CI 0.1; 7.1) higher FF difference between supraclavicular adipose tissue and subcutaneous WAT, respectively., Conclusion: Supraclavicular adipose tissue has BAT characteristics in adult patients with clinical manifest cardiovascular disease and BAT presence is associated with less obesity and a more favorable metabolic profile., Level of Evidence: 2 Technical Efficacy: Stage 2 J. MAGN. RESON. IMAGING 2017;46:497-504., (© 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Purpose: To show that a combination of parallel imaging using sensitivity encoding (SENSE) and inner volume imaging (IVI) combines the known benefits of both techniques. SENSE with a reduced field of excitation (rFOX) is termed rSENSE., Theory and Methods: The noise level in SENSE reconstructions is reduced by removing voxels from the unfolding process that are rendered silent by using rFOX. The silent voxels need to be identified beforehand, this is done by using rFOX in the coil sensitivity maps. In vivo experiments were performed at 7 Tesla using a 32-channel receive coil., Results: Good image quality could be obtained in vivo with rSENSE at acceleration factors that are higher than could be obtained using SENSE or IVI alone. With rSENSE we were also able to accelerate scans using an rFOX that was purposely designed to be imperfect or incompatible at all with IVI., Conclusion: rSENSE has been demonstrated in vivo with two-dimensionally selective radiofrequency pulses. Besides allowing additional scan acceleration, it offers a greater robustness and flexibility than IVI. The proposed method can be used with other field strengths, anatomies and other rFOX techniques. Magn Reson Med 78:88-96, 2017. © 2016 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes., (© 2016 The Authors. The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Purpose: To compare two pulsed, volumetric chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) acquisition schemes: steady state (SS) and pseudosteady state (PS) for the same brain coverage, spatial/spectral resolution and scan time., Methods: Both schemes were optimized for maximum sensitivity to amide proton transfer (APT) and nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE) effects through Bloch-McConnell simulations, and compared in terms of sensitivity to APT and NOE effects, and to transmit field inhomogeneity. Five consented healthy volunteers were scanned on a 7 Tesla Philips MR-system using the optimized protocols at three nominal B 1 amplitudes: 1 μT, 2 μT, and 3 μT., Results: Region of interest based analysis revealed that PS is more sensitive (P < 0.05) to APT and NOE effects compared with SS at low B 1 amplitudes (0.7-1.0 μT). Also, both sequences have similar dependence on the transmit field inhomogeneity. For the optimum CEST presaturation parameters (1 μT and 2 μT for APT and NOE, respectively), NOE is less sensitive to the inhomogeneity effects (15% signal to noise ratio [SNR] change for a B 1 dropout of 40%) compared with APT (35% SNR change for a B 1 dropout of 40%)., Conclusion: For the same brain coverage, spatial/spectral resolution and scan time, at low power levels PS is more sensitive to the slow chemical exchange-mediated processes compared with SS. Magn Reson Med 77:2280-2287, 2017. © 2016 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes., (© 2016 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

High field MRI is beneficial for chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) in terms of high SNR, CNR, and chemical shift dispersion. These advantages may, however, be counter-balanced by the increased transmit field inhomogeneity normally associated with high field MRI. The relatively high sensitivity of the CEST contrast to B 1 inhomogeneity necessitates the development of correction methods, which is essential for the clinical translation of CEST. In this work, two B 1 correction algorithms for the most studied CEST effects, amide-CEST and nuclear Overhauser enhancement (NOE), were analyzed. Both methods rely on fitting the multi-pool Bloch-McConnell equations to the densely sampled CEST spectra. In the first method, the correction is achieved by using a linear B 1 correction of the calculated amide and NOE CEST effects. The second method uses the Bloch-McConnell fit parameters and the desired B 1 amplitude to recalculate the CEST spectra, followed by the calculation of B 1 -corrected amide and NOE CEST effects. Both algorithms were systematically studied in Bloch-McConnell equations and in human data, and compared with the earlier proposed ideal interpolation-based B 1 correction method. In the low B 1 regime of 0.15-0.50 μT (average power), a simple linear model was sufficient to mitigate B 1 inhomogeneity effects on a par with the interpolation B 1 correction, as demonstrated by a reduced correlation of the CEST contrast with B 1 in both the simulations and the experiments., (© 2017 The Authors. NMR in Biomedicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Purpose: Peak local specific absorption rate (pSAR10g) is an important parameter used to determine patient safety during radiofrequency transmission. pSAR10g predictions for parallel transmit MRI are affected by the level of coupling exhibited by a modeled array in the simulation environment. However, simulated array coupling is rarely equal to the physical array coupling. Accurately simulating the physical array coupling may improve the accuracy of predicted SAR levels., Methods: The scattering parameter matrix (S-matrix) of a prototype 4-channel array was measured in situ using directional couplers installed on a 7T scanner. Agreement between the simulated and measured S-matrix was achieved by using network co-simulation with a modified cost function. B1+ maps acquired in a phantom were compared to B1+ distributions determined from simulations., Results: The modified co-simulation technique forces the simulations to have S-matrices similar to the measured values. A comparison of realistically versus ideally simulated coupling conditions shows that ideally simulated coupling can result in large ( > 40%) error in pSAR10g predictions, even when the array is reasonably tuned. The simulated B1+ distributions match the measured B1+ distributions better when the coupling is accurately simulated., Conclusion: Considering the measured array coupling matrix in numerical simulations eliminates a potential confound in pSAR10g prediction. Magn Reson Med 77:2040-2047, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine., (© 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Increasing the concentration of oxygen dissolved in water is known to increase the recovery rate (R1 = 1/T1) of longitudinal magnetization (T1 relaxation). Direct T1 changes in response to precise hyperoxic gas challenges have not yet been quantified and the actual effect of increasing arterial oxygen concentration on the T1 of brain parenchyma remains unclear. The aim of this work was to use quantitative T1 mapping to measure tissue T1 changes in response to precisely targeted hyperoxic respiratory challenges ranging from baseline end-tidal oxygen (PetO 2 ) to approximately 500 mmHg. We did not observe measureable T1 changes in either gray matter or white matter parenchymal tissue. The T1 of peripheral cerebrospinal fluid located within the sulci, however, was reduced as a function of PetO 2 . No significant T1 changes were observed in the ventricular cerebrospinal fluid under hyperoxia. Our results indicate that care should be taken to distinguish actual T1 changes from those which may be related to partial volume effects with cerebrospinal fluid, or regions with increased fluid content such as edema when examining hyperoxia-induced changes in T1 using methods based on T1-weighted imaging.

Purpose: To provide insight into the effect of water T 1 relaxation (T 1wat ) on amide proton transfer (APT) contrast in tumors. Three different metrics of APT contrast-magnetization transfer ratio (MTR Rex ), relaxation-compensated MTR Rex (AREX), and traditional asymmetry (MTR asym )-were compared in normal and tumor tissues in a variety of intracranial tumors at 7 Tesla (T)., Methods: Six consented intracranial tumor patients were scanned using a low-power, three-dimensional (3D) APT imaging sequence. MTR Rex and MTR asym were calculated in the region of 3 to 4 ppm. AREX was calculated by T 1wat correction of MTR Rex . Tumor tissue masks, which classify different tumor tissues, were drawn by an experienced neuroradiologist. ROI-averaged tumor tissue analysis was done for MTR Rex , AREX, and MTR asym ., Results: MTR Rex and MTR asym were slightly elevated in tumor-associated structures. Both metrics were positively correlated to T 1wat . The correlation coefficient (R) was determined to be 0.88 (P < 0.05) and 0.92 (P << 0.05) for MTR Rex and MTR asym , respectively. After T 1wat correction (R = -0.21, P = 0.69), no difference between normal and tumor tissues was found for AREX., Conclusions: The strong correlation of MTR Rex and MTR asym with T 1wat and the absence thereof in AREX suggests that much of APT contrast in tumors for the low-power, 3D-acquisition scheme at 7 T originates from the inherent tissue water T 1 -relaxation properties. Magn Reson Med 77:1525-1532, 2017. © 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine., (© 2016 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Purpose: The design of turbo spin-echo sequences is modeled as a dynamic optimization problem which includes the case of inhomogeneous transmit radiofrequency fields. This problem is efficiently solved by optimal control techniques making it possible to design patient-specific sequences online., Theory and Methods: The extended phase graph formalism is employed to model the signal evolution. The design problem is cast as an optimal control problem and an efficient numerical procedure for its solution is given. The numerical and experimental tests address standard multiecho sequences and pTx configurations., Results: Standard, analytically derived flip angle trains are recovered by the numerical optimal control approach. New sequences are designed where constraints on radiofrequency total and peak power are included. In the case of parallel transmit application, the method is able to calculate the optimal echo train for two-dimensional and three-dimensional turbo spin echo sequences in the order of 10 s with a single central processing unit (CPU) implementation. The image contrast is maintained through the whole field of view despite inhomogeneities of the radiofrequency fields., Conclusion: The optimal control design sheds new light on the sequence design process and makes it possible to design sequences in an online, patient-specific fashion. Magn Reson Med 77:361-373, 2017. © 2016 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine., (© 2016 The Authors Magnetic Resonance in Medicine published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.)

Measurement of Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) is providing tissue physiology dependent contrast, e.g. by looking at Amide and NOE (Nuclear Overhauser Enhancement) effects. CEST is unique in providing quantitative metabolite information at high imaging resolution. However, direct comparison of Amide and NOE effects between different tissues may result in wrong conclusions on the metabolite concentration due to the additional contributors to the observed CEST contrast, such as water content (WC) and water T 1 relaxation (T 1w ). For instance, there are multiple contradictory reports in the literature on Amide and NOE effects in white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) at 7T. This study shows that at 7T, tissue water T 1 relaxation is a stronger contributor to CEST contrasts than WC. After water T 1 correction, there was no difference in Amide effects between WM and GM, whereas WM/GM contrast was enhanced for NOE effects., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) imaging in combination with vasoactive stimuli can be used to probe cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR). Characterizing the healthy, age-related changes in the BOLD-CVR response can provide a reference point from which to distinguish abnormal CVR from the otherwise normal effects of ageing. Using a computer controlled gas delivery system, we examine differences in BOLD-CVR response to progressive hypercapnia between 16 young (28±3years, 9 female) and 30 elderly subjects (66±4years, 13 female). Furthermore, we incorporate baseline T 2 * information to broaden our interpretation of the BOLD-CVR response. Significant age-related differences were observed. Grey matter CVR at 7mmHg above resting PetCO 2 was lower amongst elderly (0.19±0.06%ΔBOLD/mmHg) as compared to young subjects (0.26±0.07%ΔBOLD/mmHg). White matter CVR at 7mmHg above baseline PetCO 2 showed no significant difference between young (0.04±0.02%ΔBOLD/mmHg) and elderly subjects (0.05±0.03%ΔBOLD/mmHg). We saw no significant differences in the BOLD signal response to progressive hypercapnia between male and female subjects in either grey or white matter. The observed differences in the healthy BOLD-CVR response could be explained by age-related changes in vascular mechanical properties., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: In deep brain stimulation (DBS), accurate placement of the lead is critical. Target definition is highly dependent on visual recognition on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). We prospectively investigated whether the 7-T MRI enabled better visualization of targets and led to better placement of leads compared with the 1.5-T and the 3-T MRI., Methods: Three patients with PD (mean, 55 years) were scanned on 1.5-, 3-, and 7-T MRI before surgery. Tissue contrast and signal-to-noise ratio were measured. Target coordinates were noted on MRI and during surgery. Differences were analyzed with post-hoc analysis of variance., Results: The 7-T MRI demonstrated a significant improvement in tissue visualization (P < 0.005) and signal-to-noise ratio (P < 0.005). However, no difference in the target coordinates was found between the 7-T and the 3-T MRI., Conclusions: Although the 7-T MRI enables a significant better visualization of the DBS target in patients with PD, we found no clinical benefit for the placement of the DBS leads., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: Aortic vessel wall imaging requires large coverage and a high spatial resolution, which makes it prohibitively time-consuming for clinical use. This work explores the feasibility of imaging the descending aorta in acceptable scan time, using two-dimensional (2D) spatially selective excitation and a new way of inversion recovery for black blood imaging., Methods: The excitation pattern and field of view in a 3D gradient echo sequence are reduced in two dimensions, following the aorta's anisotropic geometry. Black blood contrast is obtained by partially inverting the blood's magnetization in the heart at the start of the cardiac cycle. Imaging is delayed until the inverted blood has filled the desired part of the aorta. The flip angle and delay are determined such that the blood signal is nulled upon arrival in the aorta., Results: Experiments on eight volunteers showed that the descending aortic vessel wall could be imaged over more than 15 cm at a maximal resolution of 1.5 × 1.5 × 1.5 mm(3) in less than 5 min minimal scan time., Conclusion: This feasibility study demonstrates that time-efficient isotropic imaging of the descending aorta is possible by using 2D spatially selective excitation for motion artifact reduction and a new way of inversion recovery for black blood imaging., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Purpose: MR safety at 7 Tesla relies on accurate numerical simulations of transmit electromagnetic fields to fully assess local specific absorption rate (SAR) safety. Numerical simulations for SAR safety are currently performed using models of healthy patients. These simulations might not be useful for estimating SAR in patients who have large lesions with potentially abnormal dielectric properties, e.g., brain tumors., Theory and Methods: In this study, brain tumor patient models are constructed based on scans of four patients with high grade brain tumors. Dielectric properties for the modeled tumors are assigned based on electrical properties tomography data for the same patients. Simulations were performed to determine SAR., Results: Local SAR increases in the tumors by as much as 30%. However, the location of the maximum 10-gram averaged SAR typically occurs outside of the tumor, and thus does not increase. In the worst case, if the tumor model is moved to the location of maximum electric field intensity, then we do observe an increase in the estimated peak 10-gram SAR directly related to the tumor., Conclusion: Peak local SAR estimation made on the results of a healthy patient model simulation may underestimate the true peak local SAR in a brain tumor patient., (© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

The purpose of this work was to show that the overall peak power of RF pulses for CAIPIRINHA excitation can be substantially reduced by applying interslice phase relaxation. The optimal phases are scan dependent and can be quickly calculated by the proposed method. The multi-band RF pulse design is implemented as the minimization of a linear objective function with quadratic constraints. The interslice phase is considered to be a variable for optimization. In the case of a phase cycling scheme (CAIPIRINHA), the peak power is considered over all pulses. The computation time (about 1 s) is compatible with online RF pulse design. It is shown that the optimal interslice phases depend on the CAIPIRINHA scheme used and that RF peak power is reduced when the CAIPIRINHA phase cycling is taken into account in the optimization. The proposed method is extremely fast and results in RF pulses with low peak power for CAIPIRINHA excitation. The MATLAB implementation is given in the appendix; it allows for online determination of scan-dependent phase parameters. Furthermore, the method can be easily extended to pTx shimming systems in the context of multi-slice excitations, and this possibility is included in the software., (Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Normocapnic hyperoxic and hypercapnic hyperoxic gas challenges are increasingly being used in cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) and calibrated functional MRI experiments. The longitudinal arterial blood water relaxation time (T1a) change with hyperoxia will influence signal quantification through mechanisms relating to elevated partial pressure of plasma-dissolved O2 (pO2) and increased oxygen bound to hemoglobin in arteries (Ya) and veins (Yv). The dependence of T1a on Ya and Yv has been elegantly characterized ex vivo; however, the combined influence of pO2, Ya and Yv on T1a in vivo under normal ventilation has not been reported. Here, T1a is calculated during hyperoxia in vivo by a heuristic approach that evaluates T1 -dependent arterial spin labeling (ASL) signal changes to varying gas stimuli. Healthy volunteers (n = 14; age, 31.5 ± 7.2 years) were scanned using pseudo-continuous ASL in combination with room air (RA; 21% O2/79% N2), hypercapnic normoxic (HN; 5% CO2/21% O2/74% N2) and hypercapnic hyperoxic (HH; 5% CO2/95% O2) gas administration. HH T1a was calculated by requiring that the HN and HH cerebral blood flow (CBF) change be identical. The HH protocol was then repeated in patients (n = 10; age, 61.4 ± 13.3 years) with intracranial stenosis to assess whether an HH T1a decrease prohibited ASL from being performed in subjects with known delayed blood arrival times. Arterial blood T1a decreased from 1.65 s at baseline to 1.49 ± 0.07 s during HH. In patients, CBF values in the affected flow territory for the HH condition were increased relative to baseline CBF values and were within the physiological range (RA CBF = 36.6 ± 8.2 mL/100 g/min; HH CBF = 45.2 ± 13.9 mL/100 g/min). It can be concluded that hyperoxic (95% O2) 3-T arterial blood T1aHH = 1.49 ± 0.07 s relative to a normoxic T1a of 1.65 s., (Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)

Changes in cerebral blood flow (CBF) in response to hypercapnia induced changes in vascular tone, known as cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), can be measured using the Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) MR contrast. We examine regional differences in the BOLD-CVR response to a progressively increasing hypercapnic stimulus as well as regional BOLD characteristics for the return to baseline normocapnia. CVR across 9 subjects was highest in the cerebral lobes and deep gray matter. Peak CVR in these regions was measured at 3.6±1.6mmHg above baseline end-tidal CO2. White matter CVR was generally reduced compared to that of the gray matter (peak white matter CVR was ~48% lower). A positive relationship between the end-tidal CO2 value at which peak CVR was measured and white matter depth is observed. Furthermore, the time required for the BOLD signal to return to baseline after cessation of the hypercapnic stimulus, was also related to white matter depth; the return, expressed as a time constant, was ~25% longer in white matter. To explain the observed differences in regional CVR response, a model is proposed that takes into account the local architecture of the cerebrovascular, which can result in changes in regional blood flow distribution as a function of end-tidal CO2., (Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Purpose: Owing to variability in vascular dynamics across cerebral cortex, blood-oxygenation-level-dependent (BOLD) spatial and temporal characteristics should vary as a function of cortical-depth. Here, the positive response, initial dip (ID), and post-stimulus undershoot (PSU) of the BOLD response in human visual cortex are investigated as a function of cortical depth and stimulus duration at 7 Tesla (T)., Methods: Gradient-echo echo-planar-imaging BOLD fMRI with high spatial and temporal resolution was performed in 7 healthy volunteers and measurements of the ID, PSU, and positive BOLD response were made as a function of cortical depth and stimulus duration (0.5-8 s). Exploratory analyses were applied to understand whether functional mapping could be achieved using the ID, rather than positive, BOLD signal characteristics, Results: The ID was largest in outer cortical layers, consistent with previously reported upstream propagation of vasodilation along the diving arterioles in animals. The positive BOLD signal and PSU showed different relationships across the cortical depth with respect to stimulus duration., Conclusion: The ID and PSU were measured in humans at 7T and exhibited similar trends to those recently reported in animals. Furthermore, while evidence is provided for the ID being a potentially useful feature for better understanding BOLD signal dynamics, such as laminar neurovascular coupling, functional mapping based on the ID is extremely difficult., (© 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

High resolution BOLD fMRI has the potential to map activation patterns of small neuronal populations at the scale of cortical columns. However, BOLD fMRI does not measure neuronal activity, but only a correlate thereof, since it measures blood dynamics. To confirm that BOLD activation maps reflect neuronal population activity patterns, a direct comparison with neuro-electrophysiological data from the same cortical patch is necessary. Here, we compare BOLD activation patterns obtained with fMRI at 7 T to electrophysiological patterns obtained with implanted high density electrocorticography (ECoG) grids in the same patch of human sensorimotor cortex, and with similar resolution (1.5mm). We used high spatially sampled high-frequency broadband (HFB) power from ECoG, which reflects local neuronal population activity. The spatial distribution of 7 T BOLD activation matched the spatial distribution of ECoG HFB-power changes in the covered patch of sensorimotor cortex. BOLD fMRI activation foci were located within 1-3mm of the HFB-power ECoG foci. Both methods distinguished individual finger movement activation within a 1cm cortical patch, revealing a topographical medial to lateral layout for the little finger to index to thumb. These findings demonstrate that the BOLD signal at 7 T is strongly correlated with the underlying electrophysiology, and is capable of discriminating patterns of neuronal population activity at a millimeter scale. The results further indicate the utility of 7 T fMRI for investigation of intra-area organization of function and network dynamics., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR) is a mechanism responsible for maintaining stable perfusion pressure within the brain via smooth muscle mediated modulations of vascular tone. The amplitude of cerebral blood flow (CBF) change in response to a stimulus has been evaluated using Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) MRI, however the relationship between the stimulus and the measured signal remains unclear. CVR measured invasively in animal models and using blood-velocity based measurements in humans has demonstrated a sigmoidal relationship between cerebral blood flow and CO2 partial pressure. Using an ultra-high magnetic field strength (7T) MRI scanner and a computer controlled gas delivery system, we examined the regional and voxel-wise CVR response in relation to a targeted progressively increasing hypo- to hypercapnic stimulus. The aim of this study was to assess the non-linearity/sigmoidal behavior of the CVR response at varying arterial CO2 (PaCO2) levels. We find that a sigmoidal model provides a better description of the BOLD signal response to increasing PaCO2 than a linear model. A distinct whole-brain and gray matter BOLD-CVR signal plateau was observed in both voxel-wise and regional analysis. Furthermore, we demonstrate that a progressively increasing stimulus in combination with a sigmoidal response model can be used to obtain CVR values and provides additional physiologically relevant information (such as linear and non-linear response domains, and maximum response amplitudes) that may be more difficult to obtain from blocked CVR experiments. Considering these results, we propose an alternative way in which to define CVR based on the derivative of the BOLD-CVR response curve, which can potentially be used to differentiate between healthy and diseased vascular states., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: A new method, called Transmit and Receive Patterns from Low-Tip-angle gradient-Echo Images (TRIPLET), is described which simultaneously maps the B1+ and B1- fields of a transmit/receive radiofrequency coil array. The input data are low-tip-angle gradient-echo images, which can be acquired in a relatively short scanning time., Theory and Methods: For each voxel in the field of view, a matrix can be assembled with the low-tip-angle gradient-echo image values of the radiofrequency coil array. Applying the singular value decomposition to those matrices, datasets are obtained which show a high resemblance with the true B1+ and B1- fields. These datasets are a voxel-wise scaled version of the true radiofrequency maps. The channel independent scaling parameters can be found by implicitly forcing the reconstructed fields to be solutions of the Maxwell equations. This is achieved by introducing a multipole expansion consisting of Bessel/Fourier functions., Results: Two FDTD simulated radiofrequency fields for two coil array combinations at 7 T and a measured, in vivo dataset at 7 T are investigated to illustrate the singular value decomposition analysis of the low-tip-angle gradient-echo images and to show how the B1+ and B1- fields can be reconstructed by Transmit and Receive Patterns from Low-Tip-angle gradient-Echo Images., Conclusion: The Transmit and Receive Patterns from Low-Tip-angle gradient-Echo Images algorithm can convert the datasets from singular value decomposition analysis of low-tip-angle gradient-echo images to true B1+ and B1- fields., (Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Imaging of the kidney using blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) presents a major opportunity to examine differences in tissue oxygenation within the cortex and medulla applicable to human disease. The aim of this study was to evaluate BOLD signals before and after treatment with RAS inhibitors in hypertensive chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Ten patients with stable CKD and 5 healthy volunteers were included. Five CKD patients were subjected to BOLD MRI scan before and after chronic treatment with 300 mg/day aliskiren for at least 6 weeks. Five other CKD patients received BOLD MRI before and 1 hour after acute treatment with 50 mg captopril. A group of healthy volunteers (n=5) was scanned before and 1 hour after acute treatment with 50 mg captopril. The 10 patients had a mean age of 61±17 years; eGFR of 30±11 mL/min per 1.73 m(2) . Office systolic and diastolic blood pressures when on a RAS inhibito, were 130±10 and 86±5 mmHg in CKD patients. Control subjects had normal kidney function and were not on any medication. In untreated condition, systolic and diastolic arterial blood pressure elevated, 145±6 and 95±4 mmHg, respectively. After chronic treatment with aliskiren, arterial blood pressure decreased in all patients in this group, 127±3 mmHg and 77±3 mmHg. After acute treatment with captopril arterial blood pressure reduced to 125±4 and 71±8 mmHg. Tissue intensity signal (T2*) was increased in medulla after chronic treatment from 29±6 to 34±6 and after acute treatment with captopril from 34±9 to 38±11 in CKD patients. In addition, T2* ratio between cortex and medulla decreased in CKD patients after chronic treatment and acute treatment. This ratio remained stable in healthy volunteers before and after treatment with captopril 1.62±0.1 and 1.65±0.1, respectively. This study shows for the first time that RAS inhibitors change BOLD signal in CKD patients. Importantly, in healthy volunteers, a RAS inhibitor had no such effect. Further investigation is required., (©2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Purpose: Several parallel transmit MRI techniques require knowledge of the transmit radiofrequency field profiles (B1 (+) ). During the past years, various methods have been developed to acquire this information. Often, these methods suffer from long measurement times and produce maps exhibiting regions with poor signal-to-noise ratio and artifacts. In this article, a model-based reconstruction procedure is introduced that improves the robustness of B1 (+) mapping., Theory and Methods: The missing information from undersampled B1 (+) maps and the regions of poor signal to noise ratio are reconstructed through projection into the space of spherical functions that arise naturally from the solution of the Helmholtz equations in the spherical coordinate system., Results: As a result, B1 (+) data over a limited range of the field of view/volume is sufficient to reconstruct the B1 (+) over the full spatial domain in a fast and robust way. The same model is exploited to filter the noise of the measured maps. Results from simulations and in vivo measurements confirm the validity of the proposed method., Conclusion: A spherical functions model can well approximate the magnetic fields inside the body with few basis terms. Exploiting this compression capability, B1 (+) maps are reconstructed in regions of unknown or corrupted values., (Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is widely used to measure human brain function and relies on the assumption that hemodynamic changes mirror the underlying neuronal activity. However, an often reported saturation of the BOLD response at high movement rates has led to the notion of a mismatch in neurovascular coupling. We combined BOLD fMRI at 7T and intracranial electrocorticography (ECoG) to assess the relationship between BOLD and neuronal population activity in human sensorimotor cortex using a motor task with increasing movement rates. Though linear models failed to predict BOLD responses from the task, the measured BOLD and ECoG responses from the same tissue were in good agreement. Electrocorticography explained almost 80% of the mismatch between measured- and model-predicted BOLD responses, indicating that in human sensorimotor cortex, a large portion of the BOLD nonlinearity with respect to behavior (movement rate) is well predicted by electrophysiology. The results further suggest that other reported examples of BOLD mismatch may be related to neuronal processes, rather than to neurovascular uncoupling.

High-field gradient-echo (GE) BOLD fMRI enables very high resolution imaging, and has great potential for detailed investigations of brain function. However, as spatial resolution increases, confounds due to signal from non-capillary vessels increasingly impact the fidelity of GE BOLD fMRI signals. Here we report on an assessment of the microvascular weighting of the GE BOLD response across the cortical depth in human cortex using spin-echo fMRI which is thought to be dominated by microvasculature (albeit not completely). BOLD responses were measured with a hemodynamic impulse response (HRF) obtained from the spin-echo (SE) and gradient-echo (GE) BOLD contrast using very short stimuli (0.25 s) and a fast event-related functional paradigm. We show that the onset (≈ 1.25 s) and the rising slope of the GE and SE HRFs are strikingly similar for voxels in deep gray matter presumably containing the most metabolically demanding neurons (layers III-IV). This finding provides a strong indication that the onset of the GE HRF in deep gray matter is predominantly associated with microvasculature.