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Introduction
Manual palpation plays an important role in the clinician's routine. This becomes unfeasible when the tissue of interest is inaccessible, such as the brain inside the skull. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) has developed as an imaging technique with the potential to replace palpation, by objectively assessing the mechanical properties of tissue [1-5]. However, for the implementation of this technique in clinical practice there are limitations that need to be addressed. The aim of this study is the development of a clinical protocol suitable for the human brain, looking at the choice of actuator, MR sequence, mechanical wave frequency and RF coil.
SETUP AND WORKFLOW MECHANICAL EXCITATION
Monofrequency signal, f High Voltage Amplifier Active Actuator
Passive Actuator
Fig. 1: Setup and workflow of an MRE experiment): Motion generation by piezoelectric actuator, Wave data acquisition and Data processing. Adapted from [6].
Elastogram
Displacement
PHANTOM
Fig. 2: Comparison of shear modulus for the EPI and FLASH sequence acquired actuator wave data. Fig. 3: Comparison of shear modulus and wave displacements for the piezoelectric and pneumatic actuator wave data.
Results
FLASH sequences resulted in a higher SNR in magnitude images and unwrapped phase images. On the other hand, EPI acquisition is faster (seconds vs. minutes), which is appealing for clinical use. Usage of the piezoelectric and the pneumatic actuator resulted in similar shear moduli G (storage modulus, real part) and G (loss modulus, imaginary part), Fig. 3). The wave displacement was found to be more homogeneous for the pneumatic actuator. Brain measurements at higher frequencies (>75Hz) showed a more homogeneous shear modulus, but a lower wave displacement inside the brain. Frequencies between 25Hz and 37.5Hz resulted in low signal achievement and regions with missing information (see Fig.4,5).
BRAIN
G 50Hz 62.5Hz 75Hz
7
Grey Matter G
2
G
1
Piezoelectric
0 7
Pneumatic
0
2
0
4
0 2
62.6Hz
0
50Hz
62.5Hz
75Hz
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Piezoelectric
0
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100 Hz
4 2 4 2
Pneumatic
50Hz
62.5Hz
75Hz
Fig. 4: Shear modulus (G and G) for white matter and grey matter of the brain for the frequencies 25Hz, 62.5Hz and 100Hz. Fig.5: Comparison between pneumatic and piezoelectric actuator for the frequencies 50Hz, 62.5Hz and 75Hz.
References
[1] Muthupillai et al., Science, 269 (5232): 1854-1857, (1995) [2] Muthupillai et al., Magnetic Resonance Medicine, 36: 266-274, (1996) [3] Ehman et al., Physics in medicine and biology, 53 (4): 925-935, (2008) [4] Sack et al. Neuroimage, 46, 652-657, (2009) [5] Uffmann and Ladd, IEEE Engineering in Med and Biol Mag, 27: 28-34, (2008) [6] Flynn et al. JOSA A, Vol. 14, Issue 10, pp. 2692-2701 (1997)
Pneumatic
Piezoelectric