title: A new fast and unsynchronized method for MRI of viscoelastic properties of soft tissues.
abstract: Quantitative measurement of mechanical properties of biologic tissues may have several applications for diagnosis or biomechanic modeling in sports medicine, traumatology, or computer-guided surgery. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods previously tested for these applications all required synchronization between MRI acquisition pulses and the mechanical stimulation. A new unsynchronized method operating with no prior knowledge of intensity, direction, and frequency of the mechanical waves is proposed. A specifically modified SPAMM (SPAtial Modulation of Magnetization) sequence has been used, operating on a 0.2-T MRI system. The experimental results obtained on test objects fit well with theoretical calculations. The new proposed method is very fast (a less than 5-second acquisition time) for routine clinical use.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Experimental Physics, University of Gdansk, 80952 Gdansk, Poland.
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Lewa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roth
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nicol
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Franconi
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: de Certaines
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D004547:Elastic Tissue / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D004548:Elasticity; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008954:Models, Biological; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014732:Vibration