title: Improvement of brain lesion detection at 0.1 T by simultaneous use of Gd-DTPA and magnetization transfer imaging.
abstract: Imaging parameters were optimized at 0.1 T to improve contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) when combining magnetization transfer (MT) imaging and the use of paramagnetic contrast medium. This was accomplished by imaging a phantom containing serial concentrations of Gd-DTPA in cross-linked bovine serum albumin. With the use of simulations, the dependence of CNR on imaging parameters was studied. Conventional and MT images were obtained from 10 brain tumor patients with single and triple doses of Gd-DTPA. Simulations demonstrated the importance of TR in postcontrast sequences. The CNR in MT images is less sensitive to TR than in conventional images. A significant CNR improvement caused by MT remains at longer TR when there is no contrast enhancement without MT. The clinical results indicate that a single dose of Gd-DTPA combined with MT cannot replace imaging with a triple dose. However, MT significantly improved the CNR after single and triple Gd-DTPA-doses on T1-weighted and proton-density images.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Helsinki University, Finland.
authors.forename: U A
authors.initials: UA
authors.lastname: Ramadan
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Aronen
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Tanttu
authors.forename: P T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Karjalainen
authors.forename: K J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Kairemo
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jääskeläinen
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sipilä
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Häkkinen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D016477:Artifacts; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002417:Cattle; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003287:Contrast Media / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005682:Gadolinium / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA; D005910:Glioma / Q000175:diagnosis; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D007089:Image Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008579:Meningioma / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D004369:Pentetic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry; D019047:Phantoms, Imaging; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D003287:Contrast Media; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D012710:Serum Albumin, Bovine; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D005682:Gadolinium; D019786:Gadolinium DTPA