Neuro: past, present and future/ OTHER HALF IN TOPIC 1 NEUR531 Flashcards
What is radiography?
Using radiation to provide images of tissues, organs, bones and vessels
What is catheter angiography?
A radiopaque (meaning a substance that is opaque, or cannot be seen through under radiation) liquid injected into one of the carotid, vertebral arteries shows the branches of these vessels
What is the chief value of catheter angiography?
Detecting arterial disease or displacement of blood vessels by lesions such as tumours
What is computed tomography?
Non-invasive. Uses X-ray rotated around the head at desired plane and is based on scanning the head with a narrow, moving beam of radiographs and measuring the attenuation (reduction of amplitude) of the emerging beam. There are sensitive electronic sensors of X-irradiation. The information about relative radiopacity obtained with different viewing angles is fed to a computer that executed a mathematical algorithm on the data.
What happens to the density reading from “sections” (tomographs) of the head, in CT scan
Processed by a computer to generate an image whose brightness depends on the absorption values of the tissues
Why is CT technique useful?
It is valuable in clinical diagnosis because the density of many cerebral lesions is greater or lesser than the density of normal brain tissue
What is MRI?
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses the protons (H+ ions) of water molecules in biological tissues
How does MRI work?
In a strong static magnetic field, the protons align with the direction of the magnetic field, creating a net magnetization. Then radio waves cause these aligned atoms to produce faint signals, hydrogen atoms emit energy that is detected and integrated in a computer to produce MR images
Why is radiofrequency applied to tissue? In MRI
Protons absorb energy and change their alignment
What is the significance of switching off the radiofrequency applied in MRI?
Immediately after turning off the radiofrequency energy, protons return to their equilibrium distribution (relaxation) and emit energy. Protons in different tissues have different relaxation rates
What exactly is the computer detecting an integrating in MRI?
The hydrogen atoms emitting energy
What is the resolution of images dependent on in MRI?
Strength of magnetic field, the time used for scanning, and the required signal to noise ratio
How thick are the slices typically for MRI?
1 to 5 mm
What is the strength that is used at most MRI facilities?
1.5 to 3.0 Tesla
What is the typical in-plane resolution (xy plane) (aka voxel dimension)
0.5 to 1.0 mm
What does a T1-weighted image do? in MRI
Emphasizes the difference between CNS tissue (brighter) and other fluids and tissues (dark) and gives some discrimination between white matter (brighter) and gray matter (less bright)
What does a T2-weighted image do? in MRI
Emphasizes the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF; bright) in the subarachnoid space and ventricles, providing crisp anatomical resolution but with less contrast between gray and white matter
What does a proton density image do?
A MRI technique that emphasizes the difference between gray matter (bright) and white matter (dark)
What does an apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) image do?
MRI technique that produces contrast based on the diffusion of water molecules and show areas with diffusivity such as ventricles or an infarcted (tissue death or necrosis due to inadequate blood supply to the affected area) area as bright
What are ADC images commonly used for?
diagnosis of acute stroke
What does fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) sequence provide?
It’s a MRI technique that provides images in which the CSF signal is completely nulled
what are FLAIR images commonly used in?
In the investigation of white matter abnormalities
What are the advantages of MRI?
Non-invasive, avoidance of potentially harmful radiation, anatomical resolution that is greatly superior to that obtainable with radiographs
What is the main disadvantage of MRI?
The slow process, requiring approx. 30-40 mins for a typical examination, contrast with CT which takes a few minutes
What accompanies neuronal activity?
Increases blood flow and oxygen usage
Which of Deoxyhaemoglobin and oxyhaemoglobin is paramagnetic (paramagnetic materials are slightly attracted by a magnetic field and do not retain the magnetic properties when the external field is removed)?
Deoxyhaemoglobin
What does blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal?
Relates to deoxyhaemoglobin concentration in the tissue being examined
What does high levels of metabolic activity translate to?
High intensity of an image, thus rendering prominent any parts of the brain that are more acute than the surrounding regions
What are the 2 primary types of BOLD signals?
T2 BOLD (fMRI)
and
Hahn spin-echo (HSE) BOLD fMRI
What is T2 BOLD fMRI?
Most frequently used type (relative to HSE BOLD fMRI). Signal is due to deoxygenated haemoglobin, and “activation” is commonly imaged in large veins as well as in nervous tissue
What is HSE BOLD fMRI?
More accurate localization, detects movement of water into and out of red blood cells, with much stronger signals arising from capillaries than longer vessels, spatial resolution of approx. 0.1mm