Age-specific optimization of the T₂-weighted MRI contrast in infant and toddler brain.

IF 3 3区医学 Q2 RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING

Magnetic Resonance in Medicine Pub Date : 2025-03-01 Epub Date: 2024-10-21 DOI:10.1002/mrm.30339

Jiani Wu, Fenjie Qin, Fengyu Tian, Haotian Li, Xingwang Yong, Tingting Liu, Hongxi Zhang, Dan Wu

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose: In 0-2-year-old brains, the T₂-weighted (T2w) contrast between white matter (WM) and gray matter (GM) is weaker compared with that in adult brains and rapidly changes with age. This study aims to design variable-flip-angle (VFA) trains in 3D fast spin-echo sequence that adapt to the dynamically changing relaxation times to improve the contrast in the T2w images of the developing brains.

Methods: T₁ and T₂ relaxation times in 0-2-year-old brains were measured, and several age groups were defined according to the age-dependent pattern of T₂ values. Based on the static pseudo-steady-state theory and the extended phase graph algorithm, VFA trains were designed for each age group to maximize WM/GM contrast, constrained by the maximum specific absorption rate and overall signal intensity. The optimized VFA trains were compared with the default one used for adult brains based on the relative contrast between WM and GM. Dice coefficient was used to demonstrate the advantage of contrast-improved images as inputs for automatic tissue segmentation in infant brains.

Results: The 0-2-year-old pool was divided into groups of 0-8 months, 8-12 months, and 12-24 months. The optimal VFA trains were tested in each age group in comparison with the default sequence. Quantitative analyses demonstrated improved relative contrasts in infant and toddler brains by 1.5-2.3-fold at different ages. The Dice coefficient for contrast-optimized images was improved compared with default images (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: An effective strategy was proposed to improve the 3D T2w contrast in 0-2-year-old brains.

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根据年龄优化婴幼儿大脑的 T2 加权磁共振成像对比度。

目的：在0-2岁的大脑中，白质（WM）和灰质（GM）之间的T2加权（T2w）对比度与成人大脑相比较弱，并且随着年龄的增长而迅速变化。本研究旨在设计三维快速自旋回波序列中的可变翻转角度（VFA）列车，以适应动态变化的弛豫时间，从而改善发育中大脑 T2w 图像的对比度：方法：测量了0-2岁儿童大脑的T1和T2弛豫时间，并根据T2值的年龄依赖模式定义了几个年龄组。根据静态伪稳态理论和扩展相位图算法，在最大比吸收率和总体信号强度的限制下，为每个年龄组设计了VFA列车，以最大限度地提高WM/GM对比度。根据 WM 和 GM 之间的相对对比度，将优化后的 VFA 列车与用于成人大脑的默认列车进行比较。使用骰子系数来证明对比度改进后的图像作为婴儿大脑组织自动分割输入的优势：将 0-2 岁婴儿分为 0-8 个月、8-12 个月和 12-24 个月三组。与默认序列相比，每个年龄组的最佳 VFA 列车都进行了测试。定量分析显示，在不同年龄段，婴幼儿大脑的相对对比度提高了 1.5-2.3 倍。与默认图像相比，对比度优化图像的 Dice 系数得到了改善（p 结论：对比度优化图像的 Dice 系数得到了改善：提出了改善 0-2 岁大脑三维 T2w 对比度的有效策略。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 医学-核医学

CiteScore

6.70

自引率

24.20%

发文量

376

审稿时长

2-4 weeks

期刊介绍： Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (Magn Reson Med) is an international journal devoted to the publication of original investigations concerned with all aspects of the development and use of nuclear magnetic resonance and electron paramagnetic resonance techniques for medical applications. Reports of original investigations in the areas of mathematics, computing, engineering, physics, biophysics, chemistry, biochemistry, and physiology directly relevant to magnetic resonance will be accepted, as well as methodology-oriented clinical studies.