w8 Flashcards
list the imaging modalities for:
structural imaging
functional imaging
multimodal imaging system
structural: Microscopy, CT, sMRI, dMRI
functional imaging: PET, SPECT, fMRI, EEG, ECG
multimodal imaging systems: PET/CT, PET/MRI, EEG/MRI, MRI/MRI
CT uses the ionizing X-rays to take images from different angles in very fine slices through the
specific part of the body. Because of the risks of ionizing radiation associated with CT scans, patients should not receive CT screening in excess of those recommended by established guidelines.
how does CT combine these x-ray images to produce the slices (tomographic images) of the body
uses a filtered back projection scheme
http://xrayphysics.com/ctsim.html
what is the most powerful and versatile approach to study neurotransmitter / receptor interactions
PET
what is the most widely used radiotracer that can assess glucose metabolism in the brain.
FDG
what are some software packages for analyzing PET
Statistical Parametric Mapping (SPM)
NEUROSTAT
what is Electroencephalography (EEG)
EEG is an electrophysiological monitoring method to record electrical activity of the brain. It is typically non-invasive, with electrodes placed along the scalp. EEG measures the voltage fluctuations resulting from the ionic current within the neurons of the brain.
the recording of the brain’s spontaneous electrical activity over a period of time, as recorded from multiple electrodes placed on the scalp.
what is Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
MEG is a functional neuroimaging technique for mapping brain activity by recording the magnetic fields produced by electrical current occurring natually in the brain, using very sensitive magnetometers.
why combine EEG and MEG
Recent advances in EEG / MEG have significantly improved localization of event-related brain activity in healthy human subjects, and of intracranial spikes in epilepsy patients.
MEG and EEG both detect activity below the surface of the cortex very poorly. However, the errors are very different between these two techniques, thus combining them allows for correction of some noise.
what other imaging technique may be used with EEG/MEG
An important opportunity lies in integrating high temporal resolution EEG (and MEG) source imaging with high spatial resolution fMRI. Significant progress has been made to leverage the complementary nature of EEG and fMRI, which can be performed simultaneously in an MRI scanner.
Describe the typical EEG/MEG pipeline
EEG / MEG pre-processing: Want to find peaks in brain activity. Filtering, artefact correction, baseline correction, ERP/ERF analysis. Power spectrum and time-frequency analysis. Potential/Field and spectrum mapping.
Source estimation: Want to find the source of found brain activities. Forward modelling, Inverse calculation, ROI analysis, Individual anatomic head model.
Connectivity analysis: Construct information pathways. Granger causality analysis, Connectivity visualization.
Is MRI safe? and why
MRI is generally a safe procedure, as it uses magnetic and radio waves to generate images, not ionizing radiation like X-ray or gamma ray.
There are no known harmful side-effects associated with temporary exposure to strong magnetic field (8 Tesla) and radio waves used by MRI scanners.
Due to the potential interactions with pacemakers and cardioverterdefibrillators (ICDs), patients with these implanted devices are selectively restricted from use of MRI examination by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
what is the T1 time of a tissue (MRI)
the time it takes for the excited spins to recover and be available for the next excitation. Related to the amount of hydrogen atoms.
how do tissues with a short T1 time appear in T1-Weighted MRI
and how do tissues with a long T1 time appear in T1-Weighted MRI
short: bright because they regain most of their longitudinal magnetization during the TR interval and produce a stronger MR signal. Generally less hydrogen-rich tissue e.g. fat.
long: dark because they do not regain much longitudinal magnetization during the TR interval and produce a weaker MR signal. Generally more hydrogen-rich tissue e.g. water.
what are TR times (MRI)
repetition time
the length of time between corresponding consecutive points on a repeating series of pulses and echoes
https://mriquestions.com/tr-and-te.html
what are TE times (MRI)
echo time
represents the time from the center of the indiced RF-pulse to the center of the echo / the time of MR sampling
how is a T1-Weighted MRI produced
produced by using short TE and TR times
what is Post Gadolinium T1 Contrast Enhanced MRI
why is this used
an imaging method where the T1-weighted MRI is
acquired after injection of a contrast agent : gadolinium.
It enables analysis of blood vessels generated by brain tumors or brain lesions. The blood vessels and pathologies with high vascularity appear bright on T1 weighted post gadolinium images.
what is t2 time
The T2 time determines how quickly an MR signal fades after excitation. The T2 decay occurs as a result of energy transfer between spins.
how do tissues with a short T2 time appear in T2-Weighted MRI
and how do tissues with a long T2 time appear in T2-Weighted MRI
Tissues with a short T2 appear dark on T2-weighted images. Loses transverse magnetization more rapidly.
Tissues with a long T2 appear bright on T2-weighted images. Magnitude of transverse magnetisation is large.
Pathological process normally increase the water content in tissues. Consequently, pathological processes are usually bright on T2 weighted images
how is a T2-Weighted MRI produced
produced by using longer TE and TR times
what is proton density (PD)
the number of excitable spins per unit volume.
Proton density determines the maximum signal that can be obtained from a given tissue.
what is a Proton Density Weighted MRI
The image contrast in PD images is not dependent
on T1 or T2 relaxation. The signal we receive is completely dependent on the amount of protons in the tissue. Proton density can be enhanced by minimizing the effect of T1 and T2 contrast.
what type of tissue produces brights or dark areas in Proton Density Weighted MRI
Less protons means low signal and appear as dark areas on the image
whereas more protons produce a lot of signal and will be bright on the image.
Same as T2-weighted MRI, pathological processes normally increase the water content in tissues. The added water component results in a signal increase on FLAIR images. Consequently, pathological processes are usually bright on FLAIR images.
how is a Proton Density Weighted MRI produced
a long TR allows tissue to fully recover their longitudinal magnetisation and therefore reduces the T1 weighting
a short TE does not give tissue time to decay and therefore reduce the T2 weighting.